#committed the robbery

“I think I’m going to check it,” Luke closed the fridge and placed whatever he had found was going to fil his hunger.

He was about to step onto the stairs when he heard doors open from the hallways upstairs. You walked closer with Michael who had shut down his laptop, wondering what kind of commotion was happening.

“Is he about to break the house down again?” Michael quietly asked Luke, glancing towards the blond haired boy.

Luke only responded by a small glance towards Michael in the corner of his eyes. He was waiting to see what was happening and you looked up at Michael in confusion.

“Is it Calum?”

Michael’s lips parted but he didn’t need to answer when they heard stumbles come down from the stairs. It almost sounded as if the stairs were about to break, your eyes widened when you saw Ashton walk downstairs with death in his eyes.

You could barely react before Michael had pushed you behind him, not because he didn’t want to you to see but because that was his first reaction when he saw how pissed Ashton looked.

“What’s going on-,” Luke raised his hands in the air trying to understand but he was interrupted.

“Who did this?!” Ashton’s tone of voice was so loud, you had never seen him like this before.

His hair was tousled as if he had been pulling onto the curls for dear life. They were standing in every direction possible and his cheeks were flushed and red. His nostrils were large from breathing and his eyebrows were furrowed.

In his hand was a red dress. It was filled with dark spots and looked like something that was at least a few months old. Probably years. You didn’t understand what was going on so you looked towards the others who seemed to understand.

“Holy shit...” Michael’s hand came up to cover his mouth that was open agape.

You glanced shortly at Luke who was wearing the same expression as Michael, too caught up in the dress to even say anything. He was so shocked. You wished you could catch along.

You looked up past Michael to see Ashton’s face. It couldn’t be described that was how mad he looked. That was the face of being betrayed. You imagined.

“Who’s dress is it?” You tried to ask but you were interrupted by Luke.

“Where did you find it?” The blond haired boy asked instead. Probably a better question but you frowned anyway.

“I found it on my fucking bed,” Ashton said through gritted teeth and tugged onto the dress tighter than he already did.

His hand was grasping onto it for dear life, so much of the fabric being hidden between his large fingers. You swore he could tear it apart if it didn’t have some sort of symbolic to him.

“And you’re sure it hers?” Michael tried to find some sort of logical solution but it failed. He couldn’t. They all knew who the dress belonged to.

“I know it’s hers.” Ashton folded his lips together, and for the first time, his gaze met yours.

It didn’t include the love in his eyes he always had when he looked towards you. It made your heart skip a bit and not in a good way.

“I know this was the dress Amelia wore that night she was kidnapped by Marc Walker.”

You felt a lump form in your throat and suddenly the feeling of security which this house always gave. Suddenly faded. Into a dark hole that never ended and you instinctively took a step back.

Your lips were parted but no words were spoken. You looked between the 6 eyes in the room but they were staring at each other.

“And you’re completely sure that someone has broken into the house and placed it on your bed?” Luke’s voice was so loud and serious you could barely hear him.

You didn’t know if you wanted to hear what they had to say.

“I’m going to call Calum.” Michael stepped away and out of the kitchen in search of his iPhone.

Luke’s eyebrows were furrowed and he was in deep thought. Sometimes it happened. He just stared out in the air either about to plan a genius idea or trying to solve a mystery that just couldn’t be solved.

Ashton swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and his eyes adverted to the red fabric.

He remembered it like the day was clear. He remembered buying it with her, insisting that he wanted to pay because he wanted to be a gentleman. They had been previously fighting the day before so he wanted to do something nice for her.

“What are you thinking?” Ashton bit down on his lips. He looked less tense than before but still with angry eyes.

Luke glanced over at him and met his hazel eyes. They had a huge contrast when it came to their eyes. It was like night and day.

“I’m thinking that I’m going to murder James and whoever has planned this sick thing.” Ashton pushed the dress into the arms of Luke and started marching towards the front door.

You stood completely watching the scene in front of you. For a smaller second, you believed that it was only a nightmare and you would wake up if you just pinched your arm.

“You don’t know if this is James.” Luke grabbed Ashton’s bicep, trying to pull him back but the curly haired lad was stronger. He always had been. Since kindergarten, Ashton couldn’t tell off his strength.

“But do hell no that it’s the Walker Family.” Ashton ripped his arm away from Luke’s hands but he stopped walking.

“Every since that incident we’ve been cursed with the Walker Family. No matter where we turn, loved ones will be the one who gets hurt. I’m surprised he hasn’t killed my mother yet! Who’s going to be the next? Since everyone can apparently walk into this apartment without a key.”

Luke’s eyes glanced over his shoulder to look at you. You were standing with the hem of your sleeves in your mouth, not knowing how to handle the situation.

“Do you even know what sign this says?” Luke grabbed onto the fabric, furrowing his eyebrows when dust smeared off on his fingertips.

“It says that even in her grave, Walker can taunt me to my own.”

Luke shook his head. It was difficult trying to reason when Ashton when he was being like this. Too stubborn to listen and too heartbroken to care.

“You don’t think this is a bit of hint that she might still be alive?”

By this, your eyes widened in surprise. It wasn’t something that had crossed your thought and neither Ashton. You could see it on his facial expression. He was in deep thought.

“I don’t want to believe everything that has something to do with that conspiracy theory.” Ashton shut down the conversation with wide eyes and placed the dress in Luke’s arms.

“Please, get it out of my face.”

You watched Ashton rush towards the stairs again, settling with not leaving and marched up. His steps were heavy just like his heart and you honestly just wanted to run after him.

You weren’t sure if Luke allowed it.

You looked over at Luke who was staring down at the ground, holding onto the red dress as if it was poison. You needed to dig in deeper to understand what was going on. It didn’t make sense.

“So Amelia,” You started the conversation slowly and stood in front of Luke, “She wore that dress when Ashton and she were going to prom or mask ball or whatever it was that happened that night? Am I on the right path?”

Luke nodded his head silently and moved it so he could see it from top to toe. It still looked beautiful despite the brown stains and the dark red ones. Your eyes quickly adverted away because you didn’t want to realize where it was coming from.

“And now someone has planted it on Ashton’s bed to haunt him?”

“Ashton is right... It isn’t someone.”  Luke nodded his head, settled on his thoughts, “This must have been James’ work. Marc wouldn’t do this. He makes someone else do it. A puppet. A loser. A wimp.”

You nodded your head by every word Luke smoke. He was saying the last thing through gritted teeth and his eyes adverted towards the stairs.

“I should probably go talk to him-,”

“No, let me!” Your eyes widened in surprise. You didn’t intend to sound that desperate.

Luke quivered an eyebrow by your suggestion. He didn’t seem fully convinced and you clapped your hands together just to brush away your awkward encounter.

“I mean-,” You laughed carefully, “Sometimes I think it’s easier talking to a girl about this situation. Not that I doubt you can speak about this... I just think he’d prefer if I calmed him down.”

Luke still didn’t seem fully convinced. Regardless, he nodded his head carefully.

“Just don’t make him more upset. I don’t want him to hurt you.” He said lowly and you nodded your head. Of course, he wasn’t going to do anything to hurt you.

“He’s vulnerable.”

“I know,” You mumbled over your shoulder as you headed up the stairs.

You were quick to find his room. Luckily, his door was open so you didn’t have to go through the awkward knocking and ‘go away’ process.

Ashton was sitting on his carpet on the left side of his bed. You could just see his hair and his shoulders, looking outside the windows from his seat. Smoke was clouding from his position and you furrowed your eyebrows.

“Are you smoking inside?” You cocked your head to the side, still standing by the doorframe.

You heard a faint sigh and decided to walk in.

“Are you the judging police?” He asked without turning his face to yours.

“No, I just had asthma when I was younger that’s all.” You decided to announce and took a seat on his bed. You almost didn’t want to, consider it was where Amelia’s dress had been placed. There was also a gift box, probably the one the dress had been in.

“I’ll put it out.” He mumbled but you quickly answered, “No, No. It’s okay. Just blow towards the left then I don’t mind. You opened the windows at least.”

He nodded his head in agreement and leaned his head against his bed. You were staring at him but he wasn’t giving a single glance towards you.

“Marc really wants to get me. For reasons I don’t understand.”

“Haven’t you always been on the edge of each other?” You tried to understand where he was heading with the conversation. Since the announcement of who Marc was, you’ve tried to pull the pieces together.

“You know we used to be best friends, right?”

Silence fell upon the room and you shook your head. You had no idea, and especially not since Marc could do something cruel to Ashton such as Amelia.

“No,” Your lips tightened and you shook your head.

Ashton sighed. Not because he was irritated. He just hated thinking back in the past. How he was at the time, how things were and not really feeling like himself. It was like having a dark shadow that couldn’t stop haunting him.

“There was a time where we all weren’t enemies. Like things all came together. Marc then started to act weird. He wanted to do mean things which we didn’t want to be a part of. We preferred just dealing with drugs. That was our way forward.”

You didn’t know anything about drugs and your eyes widened. You didn’t want to ask about it though. Some things for another story.

But then again. How could they afford a house and a Mustang, without having some sort of secret shady investment?

“Do you think Marc is planning something big?” You cocked your head to the side and moved your knees up to your chest.

“Of course he is.” Ashton moved around so he was resting with his side against the bed.

“I will bet he has been planning and plotting since the second he went in hiding. Trying to come up with the best ideas. Marc Walker is a thinker. He will solve all the ideas he has and implements. I know he wants to get at me and not just with Amelia. He’s plotting something bigger I can just feel it. I just wish I can figure it out before it starts.”

“What could he possibly do that’s worse than Amelia?” You leaned your chin on your knees and sighed.

Ashton’s eyes met yours and he licked his lips.

“You.”

You felt a gutted feeling down your spine. You could almost feel the hairs rise on your body and you furrowed your eyebrows.

“If he does something to you. Kidnaps you, takes you away from me... I will commit suicide.”

“No,” You quickly disagreed. “Why would you do that?”

“Because remember. I’ve made a deal to myself. I need to keep you safe at all costs. If something happens to you and I let it slip past, it means that I can’t protect anyone in this world. And I can’t let that happen.”

“Of course nothing is going to happen to me.” You moved on the bed so you could slip down to the carpet and sit next to him.

“I promise you.” You leaned your head on his shoulder and felt him tense.

“You promise me?” He whispered carefully and you nodded your head in agreement.

You had to promise. You couldn’t imagine something was going to happen to you, but neither did you want to forget how it actually scared you. The whole situation with Amelia seemed distant yet frightening.

But if James wanted to do something to hurt you or bring you to his brother, he could have so many times to do it. You were constantly walking past each other at classes.

If he wanted you, he could just take you.

A knock from the door made the both of you turn around to see who it was.

Luke was standing with a careful smile, his arms crossed and his long body leaning against the doorframe.

“You feeling better?” Luke ran a hair through his long curls, trying to be sweet but at the same time understood if Ashton didn’t want to talk about it.

“I don’t think I’m feeling better but less tense than before,” Ashton replied simply, looking down at the carpet as if it was something dearly.

Luke nodded his head in agreement with a sigh.

“We need to change the lock here. Probably also add a few cameras around the house. I can’t have anyone breaking in without us knowing. It means none of us are safe no matter what time of the day it is.” Luke explained and glanced over at you, “And you.”

“What?” If it was any other scenario, you would have whined. You hated when Luke was starting to get stern. It was so unnecessary considering you were 21.

“You promise me that you won’t be alone in this house ever. That also means that if you need to be at your dorm, you need some of us to drive you to campus and set you off.”

“Hasn’t that always been the agreement?” You didn’t want to come off as rude or cocky. Just spilling the truth.

“Yes, it has.” Luke’s voice lowered, “It just got ten times more serious.”

You decided just to nod your head in agreement. You didn’t want to complain, it felt safer always being near one of the boys. Even if it was Michael.

“I think Calum just arrived. We need to check the news and the place.”

Ashton nodded his head by Luke’s words and looked out of the window when he stood up from the carpet. He could see Ashton park into the pavement and he settled with running his hands through his curls and start to leave the room.

You sat up again on the bed and that was when your eyebrows furrowed.

“Ashton I think that-,” Either Ashton didn’t hear you or Luke was saying something because he wasn’t turning around to hear what you had to say.

You shut your mouth closed and heard them faintly walk down the hallway.

Leaning forward on the bed you looked into the velvet box that was still resting on Ashton’s bed. It was only with a quick glance you had noticed something and you furrowed your eyebrows confused.

A little USB was left in the corner of the box with a red bow around. Odd that Ashton hadn’t noticed it but he was probably too caught up when seeing the dress to notice.

“Y/N, are you coming? I’m taking you home.”

You quickly placed the USB in your pocket and followed Luke’s voice. He probably wanted to fix things without you here. Sometimes it was just easier.

You rushed out to the hallway and down the stairs where the four of them were standing.

“Why do you look like that in the face?” Luke commented confused and your hand came up to touch your cheeks.

“Like what?” You asked innocently, shrugging some hair behind your ear.

Luke didn’t say anything and nodded his head towards the car outside. You decided not to say anything on the whole ride unless he had something he wanted to talk about. Sometimes Luke was very talkative and at other times he just preferred to be quiet.

It wasn’t until after you said goodbye to Luke and had shut the dorm door you could breathe heavily.

Luckily enough, Alba wasn’t home. You didn’t know where she was, which according to you was neither important or something you would invest your time into.

You felt that you were rushing and you took a step back from your bed just to breath. You had no idea what you had found. It could be anything and it could be literally nothing.

But then again. Nothing was a coincidence with the Walker Family.

You sat on the bed cross-legged and grabbed your Mac which was hiding under your pillow. You never knew if someone was going to show up in your room and grab something that wasn’t theirs.

With confused eyes, you plugged in the USB and waited for a response.

Files were shown which contained video files, but only one of them stood out to you. You looked around confused as if you felt someone was looking over your shoulder. You were gushing.

“I’m going to regret this.”

You started the video and squeezed your eyes tighter to see what was on the tape.

The video seemed like a security camera placed in the corner of a room. Or more likely some sort of basement. Everything seemed old and brown, it hadn’t been cleaned in a while and only one lamp was lightening the whole room.

You pressed on the right arrow. You couldn’t see anything on the video that was useless and you almost wanted to shut down your laptop. That was when a shadow appeared.

Your eyes widened in surprise when you saw a girl being forced to the floor, almost pressed against the wall by the push someone has forced towards her.

You had no doubt. You could see it was Amelia. You could recognize her hair and the picture Ashton had in his bedroom.

“Oh my god.” You almost whimpered to yourself when another person walked into the frame. You couldn’t see his face but he was holding a gun towards her.

“No, no no no!” You wanted to scream but you were muttering. This couldn’t be Amelia’s death video.

“I can’t witness this.” You moved the laptop forward but continued to play the video, seeing the gun being shut towards her, her scream loud in the basement and the lights shutting off.

Your jaw was to the point of touching your legs and you had goosebumps all over your body.

“Wait, what?” You furrowed your eyebrows confused when you heard a burst of evil laughter. You could still hear the voice of Amelia whimpering.

You moved forward to grab the MacBook again and took a closer look.

The lights were flicked back on, Amelia still sitting against the wall but nothing had happened to her. There wasn’t any blood, she wasn’t lifeless and still breathing.

Your book was open and you were trying your best to catch along with whatever paragraph in the law enforcement was stated. Paragraph numbers were shown on the large screen in front of you, but you couldn’t keep along.

You just wanted to drift away into your own thoughts. Imagine that you were somewhere else where it didn’t require you needed to use your mind.

Even the guy next to you were half asleep. He was struggling more than you and he was known for being the better student.

You wondered if you should just give him a nudge in the shoulder. But he looked so peaceful having his eyes closed.

He was probably listening anyway.

You looked down at your notes and tried to understand what you had been typing. At first, it was decent notes that you needed to use for a few projects next week, but when you tried to scan what it said, you couldn’t read your own words.

You had also ended up doodling instead. That was when you realized that you had lost your concentration.

There was no point in sitting here.

You took a scan at everyone else. It was actually many who had met up, some even looking pretty committed. It was no wonder, some enjoyed not having to meet up early for a class.

You wouldn’t say you were a morning person either but being here this late.

It should be a crime.

You shut your notebook and placed your pencil on top of it. There was no reason in trying to write something down if it wasn’t readable after all.

You glanced over at the glass door that was the only way to see the hallway. The lights were actually off, indicating that the sensors hadn’t caught movement. Nobody was out on the hallway at this time.

That was no wonder. You were the only class that had ‘night’ classes, meaning that it was only the 25 students in the room that was around the whole place.

Everything else was shut down, if you walked further away than to the end of the hallway, you would need to use your ID card to shut down the alarm.

You looked back at the professor who seemed and sounded so committed. Professor Jakarta was like, so into this subject you sometimes wondered if he’d rather be in the law enforcement than a college professor.

You glanced back at the glass door again, feeling you saw a movement and you did.

Your eyes widened in surprise and your lips parted slightly. You were so sure you were seeing wrong but when Ashton moved closer to the glass you knew your eyes weren’t being fooled.

You furrowed your eyebrows confused, not knowing what he was trying to illustrate with his hand movements.

You were great at reading people but this was getting out of hand.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” You mouthed towards his direction and he grinned lightly.

“I know,” He mouthed back and made movements with his hands as if he was motioning you to walk out of the room.

You shook your head in response, you almost wanted to say no out loud. But it wouldn’t be possible for him to hear and neither did you want to disturb the class.

Ashton made movements again and it was so distracting to you, you grabbed your back and stood up from your table. You walked down the stairs that lead down to the door and tried to avoid the long eyes after you.

You used the excuse that you needed to go to the bathroom and almost knocked the door into Ashton even though it was glass separating you and he could see you.

“What are you doing?” You whisper-yelled once the door was shut and grabbed him by the arm to move a few meters away so you wouldn’t spoil you through the glass.

“You know you can’t be here.”

“The boys are out tonight and I was bored so I headed to your dorm but you weren’t home. Your scared roommate said that you were here so I showed up on my motorcycle.”

“And?” You looked at him with blinking eyes, skipping through the part that he mentioned Alba seemed scary.

That wasn’t the shocking news of the day.

“I thought I’d ask you out for a milkshake.”

You looked at him dead in the eye as if he was being serious. Was he seriously showing up on a Tuesday night asking you out for a milkshake? Not to mention dragging you out of a class where you were supposed to be for the night.

“I’m in the middle of a class.” You mentioned as if he hadn’t noticed and nodded your head back.

“I know,” He smiled, “I could tell how bored you were. I’m sure you will forgive yourself for skipping one class. Please?”

You looked at him not knowing to say. Your eyes drifted towards the classroom where you were supposed to be. You had never skipped a class before and the guilt was filling in your veins.

But you also knew that you wouldn’t get anything from sitting in the room. Professor Jarkata had already lost you and that was kind of the point of no return.

“I shouldn’t be going with you. I can’t walk away from here.” You said more quietly and tried to sound serious so he would understand.

“You can’t walk from here?” He asked, copying your tone and you nodded your head in agreement. But your seriousness was killed by the smile growing on your face.

“Fine then,” He accepted and in one swift movement had you lifted in his arms.

“I’ll just have to carry you then.”

As you walked down the street after Ashton had parked his motorcycle by the parking lot, you couldn’t help but grin and smile at the same time.

Fine, he had won this time. Thinking further than you and you accepted your little mistake. Sometimes he was being too literate but that was what you fell for.

You looked up at him and squeezed his bicep because of his teasing tongue sticking out from his lips.

“Stop looking at me like that.” You mumbled and hit him instead. He could barely feel it, you hit like a feather.

“Like what?” He asked back and looked forward. He could see in the corner of his eye that you were rolling your eyes by his ridiculous question.

“Like you’re a child who just got their will.”

“I kind of feel like that.” Ashton smiled and stopped when you came closer to the ice cream shop where neon lights were illustrating the whole street. It wasn’t hard to notice where it was, it brightened with pink, blue and purple colors.

You didn’t know this place but Ashton seemed familiar. He opened the door for you and invited you inside where a few students were. Not someone you knew of, but you could tell as they were sitting with books studying.

“How do you know this place?” You asked and he shrugged his shoulder.

“You’d be surprised how many places I know in this city.”

You didn’t know if you were supposed to take that as a good thing or not and you stopped in front of the counter to look at the many different ice creams.

“Weren’t we supposed to get a milkshake?” You asked and looked up at him.

Ashton nodded his head in agreement and wrapped his arm around you when someone walked past you so you wouldn’t stand in the way.

“What is really cool about this place is that you get to pick whatever ice cream you want to be blended like a milkshake. My personal favorite is the mango sorbet which they blend with a bit of milk. It’s like, the best milkshake I’ve ever had.”

You nodded your head by his explanation and placed your hands on the glass on the counter.

you looked at the many signs. They had even made an ice cream that was based on Oreos and cheesecake. There were also the typical ones like chocolate, strawberry, and pistachio. You looked over at the corner with various fruit-based sorbets.

“I think I’d like to try the hazelnut ice cream.” You pointed towards the ice cream and Ashton nodded his head in agreement.

He smiled over at the cashier and ordered a mango and a hazelnut milkshake.

You didn’t know if you were supposed to pay for yourself but since he had invited, he was also insisting on paying. You didn’t want to argue with him because you knew from the start it was a lost battle.

You waited carefully for your milkshake and when you were given them Ashton held yours and headed towards a couch where you could sit.

He also made sure to grab a few napkins, just in case.

The taste of the milkshake was actually amazing. It reminded you so much of Nutella, which made sense because it was made on hazelnuts. It was so well made you needed to make a mental note remembering this place.

“So when are we going to talk about it?” He asked and you furrowed your eyebrows.

You didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Talk about what?” You asked, taking another sip of your milkshake.

“About that kiss by the fountains.”

You almost choked on the liquid and you leaned forward to grab one of the napkins. He was right about needing one and you looked up at him with wide eyes. You wanted to be polite but he took you off guard.

“Really, Ashton?” You quivered an eyebrow at him but smiled.

“You haven’t thought about it since?” He asked and you looked down at your fingers by the question. They were getting cold from holding the milkshake.

Of course, you had thought about it. In fact, you had been thinking about it every single day since it happened. You had no idea how to shake it off your shoulders. No matter what you did, Ashton would always come to your mind and it was hard trying to get him out of your head.

When you woke up the next day you actually thought it was a dream. Or more like a nightmare because Luke finding out was hunting you down. It was almost like you had forgotten what happened between you and Ashton in the first place.

You leaned your head against the cushion of the couch and looked at him with soft eyes.

“I think about it... A lot.” You mumbled and he nodded his head in agreement.

“I do, too.” He admitted and took a sip from the yellow milkshake.

You could feel your cheeks ready to brush and you briefly looked down at the menu card on the small coffee in front of the couch. It had the ice creams you had been looking at by the counter so there wasn’t much new to be distracted by.

You looked back at him and bit down on your lip in thought.

“Should we tell Luke?”

This time it was Ashton’s turn to widen his eyes and he moved the straw away from his lips.

“Are you planning my sudden death?”

You didn’t want to laugh by the question but you couldn’t help but giggle just a bit. The way he was asking showed he was clearly serious, but you didn’t know what to answer.

It was indeed a stupid question.

“I just think it’s hard to keep secrets all the time.” You admitted and shifted in your seat.

“You’ve been keeping a pretty great secret for many months now. Sometimes you act like nothing ever happened between us.” He mentioned and you lifted your eyebrows by his words.

“You feel like that? Because it’s still affecting me to this day.” You answered and he also widened his eyes.

You looked at each other trying to come up with something to say that was going to take away your weird feelings about the situation. You had never actually spoken up about this for so many months, it was almost as if it didn’t happen.

“It’s not like I can show up in front of Luke and say hey... I kissed your sister last week not to mention I was the one taking her virginity.”

If you had been drinking a sip of your milkshake, you would have choked again. Sometimes he was just straight forward and you weren’t really prepared for it.

“I know it’s weird but uh... Have you been with someone ever since?” You managed to ask and looked down at the ground to keep yourself from looking awkward.

“No, I haven’t.” He answered honestly and looked at you carefully, “I haven’t been feeling like myself since then. And when we all were thrown out of college, everything just seemed to change. I haven’t had girls on my mind at all.”

You couldn’t help but feel just a little bit happy inside.

“Have you been with someone?” He reversed the question and asked you.

You looked at him sincerely and shook your head. There was no one at college that caught your interest and especially not the way Ashton could. He always managed to make you feel safe no matter what trouble you were in.

“Of course I haven’t. That night with you has been my only time. You can practically call me a virgin again.” You said quietly and leaned your head to the side.

He widened his eyes and you didn’t know if it was because of your comment or if it was because you hadn’t been with someone since him.

What did he expect though? You weren’t really the type of girl to jump on whatever guy came close to you.

“I actually thought you had kissed someone. Might as well be something I’ve made up in my mind.”

You rolled your eyes by his words and you shook your head, “The only guy I’ve kissed is you. Have that in mind.”

“I will.”

You smiled at him and took a look around the shop. It had a bit of diner vibe because of the old school colors. You didn’t mind though, you kind of liked the place. It was located nicely and wasn’t near any kind of creepy street where Ashton usually stayed with the boys.

You had a question in your mind that came up by your thoughts drifting. You weren’t sure if you were supposed to ask but you did.

“Did you uhm-,” You looked down at your feet carefully. He looked at you in wonder, wanting you to continue.

“Did you bring Amelia here?”

Ashton’s lips folded into a straight line by your question and he sipped on his milkshake as if he was in thought. It would make sense since he knew of the place, you kind of put the puzzle pieces together by that thought.

“No, I actually didn’t.” He explained and leaned back in his seat.

He ran a hair through his brown curly locks and sighed to himself.

“I don’t go to the places where Amelia and I stayed. It just brings back too many memories. Especially the bad ones. I don’t want to go through nightmares every single day. That’s now how I want to live my life. So I’m just trying my best to try not run against the walls. And by that, I just avoid the places we used to hang out.”

“How do you know this place then?” You asked after carefully listening to every word he had to say.

It was a sensitive subject but you liked seeing that side of him. That soft side.

“I used to study here. Just like the ones over there.” He nodded his head towards the young ones being around your age.

Your eyes adverted back to his and you smiled, “Do you miss it?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes I don’t. That depends what mood I’m in.” He answered and the conversation continued like this.

You talked about anything between earth and ground. You loved just hearing him talk because he was so passionate about his stuff but he was also a great listener. You felt that he heard every single word and kept it in his mind.

You were happy that it was actually a relaxing day. Nothing dramatic was happening and it was just the two of you.

But sometimes things were said a bit too quick.

It was only an innocent way to the toilet that made you almost collapse with a guy that hadn’t seen you in the process. He almost spilled his ice cream all over her but he was lucky that he missed.

It made Ashton stand up from his chair in one swift movement and headed towards the guy with fire in his eyes.

“Are you blind? You could see her walk forward.” He made a movement to push the guy away from you and you looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Ashton, it’s okay I can handle this.” You tried to grasp his arm but he shrugged you off.

“I’m sorry, it was just an accident I swear.” The guy explained, he was wearing a leather jacket that seemed significant.

“You know an accident would be my fist to your face if you don’t leave within five seconds.”

Your eyes widened and you wanted to yell at him but instead, you grabbed his arm to pull him out of the shop. You’d rather walk out than the owner suddenly showing up and banning you from being there due to inappropriate behavior.

You kept on pulling him by the arm until you stood on the parking lot, the lights from the shop reflecting on Ashton’s face.

“What was that? He did nothing to harm me and you literally attacked him!” You didn’t want to yell but it came off like that.

Ashton looked down at you with a tight jaw and pressed his hands into his pocket pants.

“I can’t take you anywhere. You just fight everyone.” You didn’t want to sound sad but it was the truth.

He glanced over at you because of your words and he chewed on the inside of his cheek. His brain was running through with answers but he couldn’t come up with something that was going to solve it.

“You bring the worst out in me.”

Your jaw fell and you didn’t know how you were supposed to handle his words.

He moved his hair away from his eyes to show his sorrow. He was serious about his words and you wanted him to continue. You needed to hear his explanation.

“It doesn’t mean I’m blaming it all on you. I’m just having such a hard time because I am so insanely afraid that something is going to happen to you.”

“Nothing is going to happen to me, I swear.” You leaned down to grab his hand and intertwined your fingers.

“Every corner you turn, there will be someone ready to tear you down. Once you’ve experienced a loss. You will look over your shoulder for the rest of your life.”

You could feel your heart beat fast by his words, he was in serious pain and you had no idea how to take him out of his misery.

“We will figure this out okay? Someway... You can’t walk around every day feeling miserable and in fear of someone is going to take me away from you. I can’t let that happen.”

He didn’t seem fully convinced but when you moved up to stand on your toes to give him a kiss, it soothed the pain he was feeling.

“Come on,” You nodded your head towards the motorcycle and followed him towards it.

You were sitting in front of a large closet that had a mirror on the door. The hotel room you were placed in was large, but still not enough to be a suite. This hotel was way fancier than what you could afford, but the boys had insisted when you had checked in.

You had no idea how you had suddenly gotten into this mess. But here you were, suddenly thrown into a mission.

To be honest, eavesdropping again wasn't really your type of thing. But when you heard a new plan from the boys that may or may not have you included, you just couldn't help yourself.

You knew the boys were planning onto something big and that included breaking into Walker's mansion. You knew, that they did not want to include you in any way but that was when Michael came up with the most brilliant idea ever.

"Can we go through the plan again, please?" You looked up at Michael almost insecure, "I'm not sure if I'm able to do this."

"Of course you are." Michael responded and Calum agreed, "You have Hemmings in your blood. You were born to be sneaky."

"I couldn't even hide a Snickers from Luke if I had stolen it from him." You almost wanted to whimper, not really sounding that convincing but it was, in fact, the truth.

"Let me explain." Calum folded his hands together and stood up from sitting on the bed. Luke was still sitting with crosses arms and not to mention Ashton who stood by the balcony, smoking. He didn't want to be a part of it, he agreed with Luke.

That usually didn't happen.

"For as long as we can remember, Marc Walker has gotten a security system and bodyguards in front of his mansion since he took over from his mother's death back in 2012. And we're not just talking about a little security system, we're talking a massive one. Cameras all over the place along with a code system you need a card to get in through. I don't know if it's harder than that, but last time we tried to break in we couldn't because we needed a security card. Which all the bodyguards wear dearly. Don't underestimate them."

You were trying your best to keep up but the explanation was long. Calum had just begun.

"At first we brainstormed. Tried to come up with something to get that security card because that is our first step in getting Marc Walker on a plate. At first, the ideas were simple. But then Michael came up with a brilliant idea."

You looked at Michael by the mention and he wiggled down at you with his eyebrows. He was still holding your hair and curling it. You wondered where he taught that skill because it wasn't really something most boys did.

"Every Friday this guy named Christian Bell is hanging out at the local casino at this hotel. It is not a coincidence we know it because we've seen him a couple of times. This is literally the hotel of all drug addicts and sellers. He's one of Mark's closest security cards and he would recognize us if we approached him. Instantly. So Michael came up with the idea that an unfamiliar lady face with a sweet personality will distract him upon being unaware of his security card."

"And that's me?" You widened your eyes. When they said you were going to be a part of a mission, you had not expected it to be this. And definitely not where you needed to impress someone and get their attention.

You looked over at Ashton who was blowing out smoke from his mouth. He wasn't saying a thing but his hazel eyes were saying thousands of words.

"We all knew that Michael was going to do your makeup and hair, and we've also picked out a dress. A black cocktail dress, and don't worry. It's long sleeved but short, so there's not cleavage. Luke's orders."

You looked over by the mention of Luke, who looked even angrier than Ashton. He was probably just happy that he decided to have a few words said in this.

"But what if he notices I'm Luke's sister?" You questioned with wide eyes.

"He won't." Calum quickly answered and watched Michael let the last curl fall.

You were almost done, you just needed to change your clothes.

"But what if he does?"

"I'll shoot him." Ashton quickly answered and let the last bit of smoke out from his lungs.

You looked over at him with confused eyes but decided not to say anything. Michael poked on your shoulder and. That was your queue to stand up and get changed in the bathroom.

Ashton didn't want to say anything as the boys started to talk about what was going to happen. To be honest he barely wanted to watch. He didn't have the nerves to know that you were probably at risk.

He couldn't forgive himself if something happened with you and he had the chance to say something against it.

"Perfect." Calum clapped his hands together when you walked out of the bathroom.

The dress was short, yes but still a bit loose. It was actually nice to wear because it was long sleeved and soft. You also wore white shoes, it looked a bit outstanding but you decided just to go with it. Michael's decision after all.

"You need to remember to wear your hair down." Calum reminded and Michael walked over to stand in front of you.

"I've sown a microphone into your dress. It's right above your chest so it won't be noticed. This is a little thing you're going to have in your ear. If he sees, lie and say you're wearing a hearing aid. Otherwise, than that, try to hide it." Michael explained and you nodded understanding.

You felt as if there was some sort of pressure on you. If you fucked up, it could ruin everything.

"Are you going to be there?" You looked over at Luke with soft eyes.

You didn't just want him to be there. You needed him to. It was what made you feel most safe and you needed Luke's support. Even if he disagreed that you were the one being the 'target'.

"Of course." He answered just as softly and moved away from standing against the wall.

Ashton threw the cigarette over the balcony and headed towards the others to pack their things. They had also dressed nicely for the evening, all wearing some sort of dress shirt.

Kind of a contrast to the normal attire.

You breathed in heavily and felt your fingers shake. This was going to be one hell of a ride and you were nervous to step into it.

When you walked into a casino you were distracted by the many lights flashing. It was actually crazy how somebody could stand here without getting some sort of distraction.

It was practically a scene out from a movie.

You looked over your shoulder just to see where the boys would be heading. They needed to be somewhere they wouldn't get noticed by Christian but also close enough so they could tell what was going on.

You knew you weren't supposed to look over your shoulder so you kept your eyes ahead and continued to walk into the room. With direction towards the bar.

"Play a little hard to get. I'm sure he's into that." Michael said into the microphone he was wearing and you pressed against the ear speaker to hear him clearly.

"Okay then." You mumbled, more to yourself than then but they were able to hear.

"Eyes on the target. He's the one in the navy blue blazer."

Your eyes scanned the crowd of people, trying to find the one Michael was talking about. Your eyes stopped by the middle of the bar where a black-haired male was wearing a navy blazer.

You tried to scan where the boys were just in confirm but you couldn't see them. Hopefully, they could see you.

Shaking your head carefully and taking a deep breath, you moved your feet and headed towards the empty stool next to him. If it wasn't him, Michael would probably say something into the microphone.

You could feel your fingers shake when you took a seat next to him and folded your hands together.

If he was just a little bit smart, he could tell that you were nervous just from how your attitude was.

You glanced shortly over at him and focused back on the menu card in front of you. If you had to seem confident, you needed to pretend like you already had control of everything and knew what you were doing.

"I'll have a Balkan with Sprite, please." You said casually to the waiting teacher and he nodded his head impressed.

You could sense the male next to you staring but you decided just to look forward as you didn't mind anything. You could hear weird noises coming from the microphone and you tried not to furrow your eyebrows by being distracted.

"Balkan! Is she crazy? That's one of the strongest vodkas at the bar!"

She could hear Luke faintly but Michael was probably the one holding the microphone so it only sounded like whispers. You could tell from his tone that he was upset.

You looked up at the sign again where you had read the vodka and felt how your mouth was about to drop.

You could barely take a normal shot of a Jack Daniels. How in the world were you going to drink vodka with over 50% alcohol?

When the drink was served you looked at it as if it was poison. It looked like a normal Sprite, no wonder since the vodka was transparent.

The male was gazing over at you again, moving his body to the side and that was when you noticed the small badge hanging in his pocket.

It was Christian Bell.

You held in your breath and looked back at the bartender just to look at something else. You could feel your heart beat faster, you thought it was easier just not knowing that it was him.

"Well, cheers." You decided to give in and said it out loud to get Christian's attention.

He looked over at your small hand holding the large drink and he decided to grab his own as well. You assumed it was Coca Cola with some sort of liquid into it. Probably a good Bacardi.

"Cheers, love." He said, strong British accent instantly filling your ears.

You widened your eyes, totally taken aback. You didn't expect that he was British, it wasn't often you heard an accent apart from the Australian ones at the bar.

You took a very small sip of the drink but even by that, you just wanted to spit out already. That little droplet of drink on your tongue was enough to feel your throat was on fire. Literally.

You just wanted to exclaim 'oh my god' but you played it cool and placed it down on the table.

"Some sort of hard breakup?" Christian asked and nodded down at the drink, "I mean, I don't believe you would drink household detergent on free will."

You looked down at the drink as well and couldn't help but laugh at his comment.

You decided just to play along.

"Does it look that bad?" You asked, leaning your cheek against your hand.

Christian shrugged his shoulder and moved so his chest was facing you instead of just sitting by the side. He was wearing a black dress shirt inside.

"No, you don't look bad." He smiled and took a sip of his drink.

"That's not what I meant." You answered and he was quick to comment, "I know."

You looked at him a bit taken back but regardless you actually had a large smile on your face. Your cheeks were starting to become red and you tried a small sip of your drink.

"This is so brilliant." You heard Michael mumble in your ear but it was soon replaced by Ashton's angry voice.

"He's obviously flirting with her and they are barely into the conversation yet!"

You looked back at Christian and ignored the sounds coming from your ear. It was hard trying to listen to them but still continue to look like you weren't hearing voices.

Christian both seemed and felt like a smart guy. He could probably sense your different behavior by one click.

"There's this guy that I like and no matter how hard I try... I just don't think he's into me the same way I'm into him."

You tried to sound as casual as you probably could and it worked. You caught his attention and he scratched his freshly shaved face.

"Oh really? Normally it's the roles reversed." He answered and sipped on his drink, "I mean, not trying to put you into a box or anything. I'm just saying that usually, it's us boys' trying to chase the girl."

"Well, I don't think this guy knows that I want to be chased." You mumbled and fiddled with your fingers, trying to look a bit nervous.

"Why don't you just run?" He asked and by the question, you furrowed your eyebrows.

You didn't know to answer because honestly, he was tempting. He was very interested in the conversation and observed your facial expressions. You felt as if he was reading right through you. Maybe he was.

I don't want to run because there's an end to every tunnel. I just need to stop running against the walls."

He seemed impressed by your words and lifted his glass in cheers.

You wanted to be polite so you lifted the glass again and took a small sip. You had barely touched it, to be honest, and you wished you had picked something else. At least something that wasn't so strong your stomach was also burning.

He chuckled lightly by your action and you furrowed your eyebrows.

"I mean, come on." He looked at you and you felt your heart skip a beat.

"Can we please get a Strawberry Daiquiri for the lady." He asked towards the bartender and he nodded his in agreement. "Coming right up."

You looked at Christian stunned, not really knowing what to say. He smiled back at you and laughed quietly by your reaction.

"As I said, come on." He nodded his head down towards the drink, "You're not a great lier. Instead of drinking Balkan trying to convince yourself that you like it how about drinking something you actually enjoy?"

You didn't know what to say and you tried to listen if the boys were saying anything you could respond. But nothing and you ended up chuckling as well.

You wanted to play along on his game.

"Who says I like a Strawberry Daiquiri?" You crossed your arms and leaned back in your chair.

He looked challenged by your question and scratched his chin.

"The cocktail dress, the curly hair, the makeup. I don't want to put you into a type but I'm sure you like a Daiquiri. Along with you don't drink beer unless it's the cheapest thing on the menu, you walk home at 2 A.M but not without a conversation from a friend to make sure you're walked home safe. You sleep until 11 and you don't like cheese."

What an analyzing type. You looked at him with raised eyebrows. You didn't want to turn down his ego and tell him that he was wrong, so you decided just to smile at him and nod your head impressed.

You wished the boys could say anything. You needed to know what you were doing was correct.

"See. I'm a people reader." He raised his hands and you giggled fakely.

"You don't say." You smiled at the bartender when he placed the drink in front of you. No matter if Christian's ego was bigger than Greenland, you still liked the Strawberry Daiquiri better than the Balkan Sprite.

"People reader my ass."

You suddenly heard voices in your ear again, you almost thought they had forgotten about you.

You smiled at Christian and tried to focus on hearing what they had to say while looking down at your drink.

"Ask him where he works for a-," Before Michael could finish his question Christian looked back at you with furrowed eyebrows.

He looked mad but it was also with a hint of concentration. You felt as if your heart was skipping a beat or two and just by the way he was looking at you, you wanted to scream at Luke for help.

"Now I know where I've seen you before." He suddenly said and you opened your mouth but no words came out.

"Oh my god, Y/N you have to walk away!" Luke said into the microphone but he was replaced by Calum's voice.

"She can't leave, are you an idiot! If she starts to run, that is when he realizes she is on a mission!"

"Quit it both! We don't know what he has to say yet." Michael interrupted them both and held his head high.

You couldn't hear Ashton in the discussion but you assumed he was sitting tight and watching your every move. He would never allow something to happen to you on his watch.

"We've never met before." You swallowed quickly and took a large drink of the Daiquiri. You didn't know what else to do but you also had to deny his words.

It was, in fact, true what you were saying. You had never met before if he felt he had seen you before it would be on a picture.

"I'm so sure." He nodded his head but didn't look at angry as before.

He reached down to grab his phone and opened it. You watched him carefully scroll through his pictures until he showed you a picture of someone in a football uniform.

It was James.

"You know this guy?" He asked and you quickly looked him in the eyes.

"Who is it?" Michael asked in your ear but you couldn't answer.

"I think I've seen him around campus. Maybe we have a class together or something. He seems familiar." You shrugged and swung your leg over the other.

Christian nodded his head impressed and looked down at the phone. "I'm a friend of the family. I've been to the place a few times. It doesn't really have the best rumors but you know, that probably isn't something that's ruining your experiences."

"Yeah, I mostly spent times with my friends." You replied and tried to scan the place for Luke or the others.

"That's good. Whatever they say, you need to stay away from that Hemmings' guy. I'm not sure if he's still there but that boy speaks trouble."

You widened your eyes and no words came out of your mouth.

"I'll keep that in mind." You said through gritted teeth and felt something needed to happen.

You could see that the card you needed was in his wallet. It was placed on the bar table so all you had to do was reach forward and take it. Easier said than done.

"We need to distract him." You heard Michael said and you nodded your head in agreement, assuming they could see your face.

"Now." You mumbled almost in a whisper, not wanting Christian to hear.

You didn't know what they had planned but it was quickly shown when you heard the sound of someone dropping at least 50 small coins. You looked towards two males standing in front of each other and faintly you noticed Calum's shadow disappear.

It was like a fire had started between the guys and they were starting to discuss.

"Woah, what's going on here?" Christian stood up from his chair quickly and headed towards the males.

"He literally just knocked into me!" One said and the other disagreed with, "I didn't, someone fucking pushed me!"

You felt your heart was about to break out of your chest. But this was your moment and there was no time wasting, it had to be done now otherwise you wouldn't make it.

Grabbing his wallet quickly you didn't care if someone were watching. You just had to get over with this and after grabbing the card from his wallet, you placed it back as nothing happened and stood up from your chair.

You felt as if you were about to throw up and you sprinted towards the exit where you came from in the first place.

You didn't dare to look over your shoulder but while exiting you could hear Christian still talking with the males.

When you walked outside the hotel just to get some air you were met by the boys showing up in one big circle. You hadn't noticed that you were trying to catch your breath but you smiled through it.

"You fucking did it." Michael cheered loudly and you quickly gave the card to him. You didn't want to hold it anymore, you felt bad luck would hit you if you had it.

"Yeah, I guess I did." You breathed in through your nose and enjoyed the feeling of freedom.

"I'm proud of you." Luke smiled as well and gave you a squeeze on your shoulder.

You grinned up at him and ran fingers through your hair.

"You saw the drink I ordered? I totally panicked." You tried not to laugh but they all did. Expect Ashton, he was keeping a bit distance and stayed quiet.

You looked over at him shortly but your attention went back on Luke.

"We're heading back to the hotel rooms to celebrate. If you want to join, you can do so."

"I think I just need a little bit of fresh air." You nodded your head towards the water fountains there were placed in front of the hotel entrance. They were also colored because of lamps, it looked beautiful and cool at the same time.

You heard them mumble goodbye and you headed towards the fountains. You could sense that Ashton was still there, you could see his curls in the corner of your eye.

You placed your hands on the white rack and watched the water rise and fall.

"You know, I was a complete nerve-wrack back there." He nervously placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and sighed carefully.

You glanced towards him with your hands still on the white rack, watching him shortly before your eyes adverted back to the water fountains.

"I'd lie if I said I wasn't just a bit scared myself." You mumbled under your breath, loud enough for him to hear and he nodded.

He sighed carefully and water the waterfall as well. He looked back at you to see the colors in your face change. Right now the water fountains lights were a mix of purple and blue.

You looked at him as well and smiled carefully.

"Why was it a problem he was flirting? I don't think it was anything real." You questioned out loud carefully.

Ashton sighed again and looked down at the waves of water, "I was afraid that it was going to escalate quickly."

"Escalate how?"

Ashton bit down on his lip and looked over at you almost embarrassed.

"That he was going to end up kissing you or something."

You looked down at the ground in thought by his words. He didn't need to explain himself to let you understand why he was reacting like this.

"I'd never want to kiss him..." You paused quickly and looked over at him to grab his attention. You already had it and his hazel eyes stared at yours.

I want to kiss you."

He had to blink twice just to make sure what he heard was correct. You could feel your heart beat, much faster than it had all night.

You looked at Ashton not sure if he had heard you but he did.

Reaching forward to caress your cheek carefully he used his fingers to move your chin and pressed his lips against yours.

It was a short kiss, but warmth and passionate at the same time, making your knees going weak.

“I’m just saying that no matter what we do, if she steps one foot outside her dorm she is going to be in some sort of danger. And whatever you come with ideas I don’t think it will ever be good enough for my little sister!”

Michael and Calum were leaning against the small hallway in your dorm house. Calum was having a cigarette loosely between his fingers now, he didn’t really want to glare towards the no smoking sign hanging over the exit door.

“I know that Ashton tries his best to protect her all the time now that Marc is back… But what if that crumbles between our fingers. What if there is something that we are missing out and is going to bite our ass in the end?”

Ashton was bending down with his fingers touching and hanging in front of his mouth as he sat in thought. His back was pressed against the door to your dorm room and he was the quietest one.

Luke looked over Ashton, noticing his quiet presence.

“What do you think?” He asked, slightly leaning his head to the right side.

Ashton breathed in heavily, but Luke could read his face. He had an idea in his mind and he better share.

“I think we need to introduce her to the gang.”

You knew you weren’t supposed to be listening but since you were standing on the other side of the door and the rooms here at this building weren’t really the most soundproof, you widened your eyes.

In reaction, you reached towards the door handle and yelped when you opened the door and Ashton fell down to the ground in front of you.

His hazel eyes met yours and you looked over at the others sitting by the walk, Luke nodding his head impressed.

“You know, that isn’t such a bad idea.”

For as long as you could remember, you had never really invested your time in knowing about Luke’s gang. You had always known that he was one of the leaders, but that was it.

He had always made sure that you were completely kept out of it. He wished you had nothing to do with it, both to keep you safe but also because he didn’t want you to have the same life as him.

He had never said it out loud but you could tell he wasn’t really proud of what he was doing.

Trying to battle being the parent of you plus stealing drugs had never really been the great combination. He had always tried his best to be the role model you wanted to look up to.

It just never really happened. Or, according to Luke, it didn’t.

To you, it was something way different. Luke had so much personality that you looked up to, he just didn’t know it. It was such things as his compassion for taking care of you, taking care of his friends and always making sure that everyone was alright.

He was insanely polite comparing to how he looked and sometimes sounded. He could come off as rude, mostly when it was gang-related business but when he was with you at the meetings in high school, he would always behave right.

Of course that didn’t mean he would take off his leather jacket. It just meant that he would switch to his nice one and keep the back logo at home. He didn’t want to flash that around students and teachers.

You didn’t even know what the gang was called. It was hidden by Luke also, but you could see the logo on the back of his leather jackets that it had something to do with a rose.

When you were younger, Luke would mostly say that he was having out with people from his school. You never really felt that was the case or the truth. Luke was rarely a lier but when it came to the gang, he kept his mouth shut.

You were pretty satisfied with it though. The less you knew off, the less you needed to worry about.

But now, that was about to change.

You were trying to catch up with their long legs as you walked down one of the paths close to the woods that was right next to your college. Suddenly it all made sense why they were always hanging out in front of the parking lot. This part of the city was where everything was happening.

Luke was walking in front with a frown on his face. He wasn’t really saying much but you could tell he was just a little bit uncomfortable about the whole situation.

Calum and Michael were walking next to each other but they weren’t speaking.

Ashton was walking next to you and you couldn’t help but notice how many times he looked over his shoulder on your way.

You had also noticed they had been changing the jackets. Suddenly, they were all wearing back logos. You’d imagine they normally wouldn’t care when they were walking down the streets but somehow they always played low profile.

“Do I need to wear this?” You asked Ashton, pulling onto the hood of your sweatshirt.

Ashton looked down at you in thought, watching you wave the hood in your hands and he bit down on his lip. He decided just to nod, not with many answers but that and looked back.

You weren’t sure if he was serious or not, but you did it anyway.

Pulling the hoodie over your hair you felt the shadow hover over your eyes and you avoided the puddle that was in front of you.

You accidentally knocked yourself into Ashton in the process, but he didn’t mind, only sent you a small smile in return.

The place you were getting closer to, looked horrible. At first, you actually thought it was a joke. Nobody could stay inside for more than five minutes without getting freaked out.

You understood why nobody was around here. Nobody knew that it even existed.

“You still think this is a great idea?” Luke looked over his shoulder to glare at Ashton. He needed confirmation.

Ashton nodded his head in agreement and nodded towards the metal door that seemed to be the only thing standing in this building. Luke pulled the handle and walked inside, to be met by the expelling smell of mold.

Your hand came up to cover your mouth, luckily enough the sweatshirt you were wearing was a little too big.

Luke already knew where the direction was headed and he walked towards the stairs that lead down to the basement. You could faintly hear voices and some music playing. You didn’t know the house actually kept life.

The stairs were causing noises when you walked down, you were so sure it was going to crash but it remained still. You were walking down as the last one with Ashton behind you to make sure nobody was following you.

You were met by a basement that looked much better than upstairs. It was filled with people with any kind of ages, mostly everyone being over 18.

The whole place kept a wooden theme with neon lights on the wall and many posters. It looked like some sort of bar basement as it also had a pool table and a bar in the middle of the place. There were couches at the end of the room and you were trying not to feel completely out of place.

By the announcement of you, it was like all eyes went on you in the back.

You looked up at Ashton unsure, feeling just a bit comfortable about the situation.

“Don’t worry.” He mouthed, not loud for you to hear and your attention was drawn towards a male sitting at the bar in his leather jacket. He was having a beer in his hands but his attention drawn to you made him place it on the bar table and stand up.

He had a long brown beard and was almost bald. He had a tattoo right next to his eye and a piercing in the eyebrow. If you had met him on the streets he would be that kind of guy you would avoid walking past.

“Hemmings?” He asked, curious.

“Long time no see.”

Luke shifted in his shoulders and cracked his fingers. He knew that all eyes were on him and he had the voice to speak. He just needed to say things correctly.

“We need your help.” Luke announced, seeing faintly behind his back that Calum and Michael were nodding their head in agreement.

The male watched them carefully, his eyebrows furrowing. He opened his mouth and was about to say something but was interrupted by a lady standing behind him.

“I see a stranger.” She crossed her arms, changing Luke’s perspective completely and he looked at her with parted lips.

She seemed rather intimidating considering she probably wasn’t more than 5′2. She had long black hair that was pulled in two ponytails and she had faint blue streaks. Her cat-eye eyeliner was clear even from your point of you and the ring in her nose was black.

She looked between the many listeners in the room and suddenly, more than before, all eyes were on you.

“Some of you may know my little sister.” Luke tried to save it already, he knew just by the start of this that things could go wrong.

“Wasn’t she 13 last time we saw her?” Another one remarked, causing even more confusion.

“She’s not really that age anymore.” Luke rolled his eyes deeply and glanced over his shoulder to see your face. It was hard to read him, you didn’t know if the conversation was going to escalate quickly.

“I think we all know the Walker family.” By that, it caused a bit of commotion.

People were starting to whisper and some were even yelling. It was like a pure disgust filled the room and everyone was affected by it. At least, you weren’t the only one feeling like this about James’ family.

“I’m here to ask you all a favor. My sister is trying to live a normal life, but no matter what Marc Walker’s brother is trying to ruin that. I’m asking you all for a gang family wish. Watch over her if I can’t.”

By that, you imagined that everyone would scream no in unison. You hadn’t even expected that Luke would ask such thing like that. But then again, what did you expect meeting up here?

“But she’s not a part of the gang?” Just like you predicted, the woman with the blue strikes was against. She just seemed like that off nature.

That made commotion again and people started to discuss. You didn’t know what to say and when you looked up at Ashton just trying to read his face, it was impossible. He was biting down on his tongue in thought and watched the commotion break.

“Enough.” The man with the beard yelled. He had some sort of leader feeling and you assumed he was one of the wise ones.

“You know what the rules are.”

By that, the woman with the blue strikes looked at him oddly.

“Family is family. Gang-related or not. Is a member of the gang asking for a favor, especially when it comes to family business. We all stand with all hands.” He looked over at the woman with the strikes, “We all do.”

The woman didn’t seem satisfied but she agreed. Everyone was nodding their hands in agreement and you could feel Ashton’s hand on your back, giving some sort of confirmation that everything was, in fact, going to be alright.

“Welcome inside. Long time no see.” The man invited you all in and suddenly, it was like Luke and the boys were back in the days.

They reached out to everyone they knew, high-fiving or shaking their hands. You didn’t really know what to do with yourself but Ashton was still standing with you and suddenly the man showed up.

“I’m Renald.” He announced, his tattoed hand reaching forward.

It was much worse than Ashton’s. You could barely see his knuckles because they were covered with black ink.

“You know last time I saw you, you were 15.”

“Yeah, I’ve grown out of the lilac shirt.” You mumbled, remembering back to the times where your favorite shirt would be a ridiculous lilac Ramones shirt.

But it was amazing to see that he could remember you because you didn’t have a clue who he was. Even if he looked like someone you would actually remember.

“How old are you know?” He asked and you answered, “21.”

“Wow.” He nodded impressed, “Time flies fast when you’re having fun.”

You nodded your head in agreement, not really knowing what to answer. He was having a smile on his face and you looked up at Ashton hoping that he could continue the conversation.

He did, luckily enough and you just stood and let them talking meanwhile you took a look around the room.

In fact, you couldn’t recognize anyone here. You weren’t sure if you had met them or not, sometimes Luke had friends over when you were younger that looked just a little bit shady.

And they all looked shady here.

You held in your breath and watched Ashton head towards the bar with Renald. You weren’t sure if they wanted to drink beer or not, but Ashton declined and looked over at you if you wanted something.

You didn’t want to come off that forward but you repeatedly shook your head until Ashton understood the only thing you wanted to drink was water.

If that was even the case. The only water you suspected was in this old building would be at the toilet. And you did not want to see what that was looking like. Yikes.

Looking around again trying to scan a few faces you landed on someone with blond hair and also blue strikes. Was that iconic for being in this gang or not? You thought to yourself.

She motioned for you to walk forward but you hesitantly took a step back.

Ashton was occupied talking with the bartender, he probably knew him. Even if Ashton could be quiet at times, he knew a hell lot of people. Everyone liked him. Even when they knew of his dark side.

You tried to scan the crowd for Luke, or at least Michael or Calum. But none of them were in sight and even if the girl wasn’t speaking to you, you still felt forced not to leave.

You could feel your toes tickling in confusion of what to do, but not wanting to be the boring one you headed towards her. You also noticed the other woman with the blue strikes and you felt a lump in your throat.

“Come here.” She motioned and you awkwardly sat down on the grey stool in front of them. The fabric was old, you were sure that dust was coming up from when you sat down and it had many holes.

“So you’re the Hemmings little sister?” She asked and you only nodded. What a conversation starter.

They started to whisper something to each other, also including the rest that was sitting by the small table. You didn’t know if you were supposed to sit here or not, Luke probably didn’t agree to it but there was point of no return.

“We’ve actually heard a bit about you.” The blond mentioned and you furrowed your eyebrows. You thought Luke had tried to keep you out from it.

“Not that it was something important.”

You didn’t know if that was supposed to concern you or not. It was difficult trying to think logically down here. There was a mixed smell of mold but also cocaine. If that even had a smell.

“We just remember once that Ashton had to leave a party, something with needing to pick you up. It was just a mention but already from that, we knew you were the party killer type.”

You felt a lump form in your throat and not only because they had already put a mark in your forehead. Just the fact that you were brought back to that moment between you and Ashton many months back left you with shivers.

You remembered the night clearly. The feeling of him showing up after James tried to push you against the bus stop. Ashton’s warm sheets and his warm hands holding your body. It was mesmerizing.

Shaking your head out of thought you looked at her with the blonde hair again. The other one wasn’t much of a speaker. She just looked at you evilly.

“But since you’re here we thought we’d introduce you to the gang-related rituals. You know, since you’re already starting to become a member.”

Now, the other one looked excited but you didn’t.

You didn’t know what to say but if Luke saw this he would probably kill them. When you showed up here you did not expect that you were supposed to be a part of the gang. To be honest you still had no idea why you were here or what its purpose was.

“I don’t think I shou-,” You didn’t get the chance to finish your sentence before the girl fished out a cigarette.

“We know, this isn’t a part of the ritual but you know. It’s a gang thing. You’d look much better with this devil between your lips.”

You had never in your life smoked a cigarette before, you had barely touched one. It was only one time you stood with a lit one because a drunk guy at college walked past you at a party and needed you to hold it while he took a piss.

“I don’t smoke.” You tried to sound stern but suddenly it was lit and placed between your fingers.

“We all say that at first but when you start... You never stop.”

You didn’t even want to start. You hated the smell of it, especially when Michael was making the private ones because you felt like you gagged just by sitting next to him. You were so happy that Alba wasn’t a smoker because sharing a room with her if she did would have been horrifying.

You decided just to play along, you could sit with it in your hands without taking a drag.

“We also have another ritual.” The blonde explained, “It’s this thing where we drink ten tequila shots in a row, remember to hold our breath at first and sniff it all in before we drink.”

That sounded ridiculous. You were so sure that they just wanted to mess with you but it was so awkward you just couldn’t stand up and leave. You just wanted to call somebody and when they started to line up the shots, you panicked.

“Playing games again Ronda?” Ashton said from your behind and you honestly breathed out in relief. His voice was music to your ears.

The blonde haired girl shook her head in disbelief just by Ashton’s announcement. She crossed her arms and glanced over at the other one with furrowed eyebrows before she rolled her eyes.

“Just trying to bring her into the gang,” Ronda explained, now that you had gotten her name. You still didn’t know the dark haired one with the blue strikes.

“By getting her drunk? I don’t remember that as one of the rituals.” Ashton leaned his hands on the chair behind you and leaned his head forward.

“What do you know about that, the rituals were clearly different back when you came into this gang.” The dark haired one finally decided to say something.

“I’m sorry Celine, but I don’t recall what you’re talking about. Now, leave her alone.”

They both tightened their mouths in unison by Ashton’s calm demand and you quickly stood up from the chair, feeling that was your queue.

You looked at Ashton as he removed his hands from the chair and fiddled with the hem of your shirt.

“I know this is not your scene and trust me, the girls around here are bitches. I think you’re the purest one in the room right now.”

You felt a blush appear on your cheeks but his words didn’t come off as a surprise.

“How about I take you back to your dorm? I think that would be a lot more comfortable.”

“I thought you didn’t want me to be alone?” You asked, quivering an eyebrow.

“Who says I’m leaving?” Ashton smiled carefully and placed his hands in his leather jacket pockets before nodding his head towards the exit.

You decided not to say anything and followed Ashton out. You got a quick glance with Luke who only nodded his head in agreement, probably thinking it would be a great idea if you left.

It was all for your safety.

You were lucky that it was Ashton who drove you to the place because it meant you could jump right back into his red Mustang.

Sometimes you wondered how he even could afford the car. He wasn’t working besides the things the boys did with the gang. If they could even consider that a job, but they were loaded.

When you drove in front of the dorm house Ashton parked illegally and threw the keys in the pockets of his leather jacket.

You clicked on the lights and remembered back to the fact that it was Friday and Alba wasn’t home. She was home with her parents and wouldn’t be back before Sunday afternoon.

“I know the bed isn’t that big,” You scratched your arm carefully and shrugged your shoulders.

You weren’t really at your peak nor the hostess. You couldn’t even offer him a pillow unless you had to steal Alba’s. You weren’t so sure if that would be a good idea.

“It’s alright,” He nodded his head and removed the sængelagn betræk to reveal your pillow and sheet. He furrowed his eyebrows for a second and looked over his shoulder.

“I know,” You smiled carefully, “I use two sheets at night.”

Ashton looked at you wanting you to continue explaining and you sighed.

“I know this sounds weird but I like having one wrapped around me and the other wrapped around my leg. See it as a security blanket. You don’t want to see what’s hiding under Alba’s.”

You nodded your head towards the bed on the left side of the room and Ashton glanced towards her bed.

“We’ll work it out.” He referred back to the small bed.

It wasn’t like dorms offered double beds unless you were living with a boyfriend or something. It was usually in Senior year you were offered the great dorm rooms that had kitchen and bath for yourself.

Alba and you were lucky because your room was at the end of the hallway which meant you had your own bathroom. But you shared a kitchen with the rest of the house.

“I’ll just change uh-,” You looked up at him hesitantly and he noticed, “I’ll turn around.”

Smiling carefully you watched his tall frame flip 180 degrees and focused on the wall instead.

Quickly changing into a t-shirt and shorts you made a small sound so he knew you were done and grabbed the sheets to make room for both of you.

“Do you mind if I...” He paused his sentence and looked at you for confirmation.

You looked over at him not catching up at first but afterward nodded your head in agreement.

You watched in the corner of your eye that he was buckling his belt open and pulled his pants down. He kept on his white tee but placed his leather jacket on your chair and headed towards him.

“Sure you can sleep?” You asked and he nodded his head. He didn’t look tired.

“Might as well look at something beautiful instead.”

You didn’t know what to respond otherwise than smile down at the ground and you sat down on the bed and made sure you were laying up against the wall.

Ashton crept under the covers as well, arm leaning up in invitation and you placed your cheek on the top of his chest.

You could feel his heartbeat pound, even faster when your hands combined and he intertwined your fingers.

“I know what you’re thinking,” She tried to look again since you were still holding up your grey t-shirt, “It sounds weird that I’m freaking out but when it’s human cuts and my close friends I tend to freak out.”

“Didn’t you help out Travis Cost when he fell and injured his knee during football practice?” You placed the bandage back on place and moved your shirt down. 

Calum had said you were supposed to wear the bandage for most of the time. It was best for the cut to get some air but the stitches could easily get stuck to your clothes and that would be painful. 

“Yes and there was no blood,” She shook her head, “That was his kneecap being dislocated. It wasn’t anything scary. Why don’t you think I take part in the blood donations program here at the campus?” 

“Well, I just thought you were scared of needles.” You shrugged your shoulders and threw back on your denim jacket. 

“No, I’ve even injected myself one time for fun when writing an assignment about the nerve system.” Alba brushed away the droplets of sweat from her forehead. 

“And it’s kind of tragic that I’m not a part of the blood donation. I have AB-negative so I’m like a god in heaven for nurses. I’m a part of the 6% and probably the only one at the campus who has it.” 

Your eyes widened by her small fact. You didn’t even know what your blood type was, it was probably something Luke knew if he looked through your hospital papers from when you were born. 

You walked past the water foundation and headed towards the dorms. You had met between the buildings in the middle because you had classes this morning, being off at noon before meeting again at 2 P.M.

It wasn’t often that you had three classes a day. Normally, it would only be one or two on Tuesday’s but since you were behind you had three double. 

Alba was used to the many classes a day. She sometimes took extra classes just because she found it exciting. 

You didn’t really think that having rocket science from 8 P.M to 10 P.M on a Thursday night was the most appealing. 

You couldn’t even keep count of all the classes she had. The only thing you shared together was English.

“Should I also call you out for not telling me you spend the night at your brother’s house?” 

Your cheeks turned into a deep shade of red, being embarrassed. You were never the one to forget texting where you were. Not that it was required living with a roommate but you had promised Alba. 

“Oh, Albs. I’m so sorry,” You looked down at your feet and clutched your books tighter, “It was just... Things happened in such a dramatic way I totally forgot and my phone died when I headed for classes.” 

“It’s okay,” Alba smiled, “I could hear from others when they saw you at classes that you weren’t dead... Or I mean, almost,” She glanced down at your stomach to remind you of your stitches. 

“Speaking of which, why did I hear that Ashton Irwin was at the campus?”

If your cheeks could get even redder they would be now. You knew the rumor was spread for the ones being curious. Also, the ones who wanted to avoid him. It was not everyone that was on Ashton’s good side. 

You looked down at the ground trying to come up with something that didn’t sound as crazy as he actually made it sound when it came up with the idea. 

“I honestly just heard rumors that he brought a gun.” 

If Alba was just a little bit smart like she usually was, she would be able to tell from your face expressions everything she was saying was correct. 

“No...” She shook her head in disbelief, “Are you serious?” 

You only half nodded even though everything was indeed true. 

“First of all, it was Ashton’s idea.” You scratched your arm carefully and watched her open the door to walk up the stairs towards your dorm. 

“Secondly, I didn’t know he was bringing a gun.” 

You decided not to say anything else before you were inside your dorm. By the way, Alba was looking at you if it was possible she would be able to knock you down the stairs from her staring. 

She was definitely not letting go of the conversation until you had explained her everything. The truth was, she would become more scared but it was better than walking around unknowing what was going on. 

“Ashton suggested showing up because he wanted to scare off James. Wanting to show that this cut was his final move and things had to end because otherwise, I can’t walk around on my own without being in danger. It was kind of a way to tell James, no matter where he is, Ashton will find him.” 

“And kill him?” Alba asked with her large brown orbs that were reflecting through her glasses, it was like her voice was shaking. 

You shook your head and watched her take a seat on her bed that was nicely covered. Unlike yours that looked like a mess from yesterday. 

“No, Ashton would never kill anybody.” You shook your head stern, “He’s just trying to scare him off. Not wanting him to be a threat to me. Trying to make me live a normal life.” 

Alba nodded her head in agreement and regretted her sudden outburst. 

“If I may ask,” She paused to lick her lips in thought, “What is your relationship with him?” 

You stopped in track from taking off your jacket and furrowed your eyebrows at her. 

“I mean,” She scratched her arm lightly, “It’s not that I see you as a couple or anything... It just sounds/seems like you’re spending more time with him than your actual brother.” 

By that, you sighed carefully. 

Taking a seat down on your own bed you pushed the sheets away so you could rest your back against the wall. She could tell you were about to tell a story so she prepared herself by crossing her legs like she was in the middle of yoga. 

“Luke is never really actually there. He’s often out, it kind of follows with being the leader of the gang. I don’t know how he got the role but as all, I can remember he has always been in that position. Dealing with the rules, making people follow the instructions and make sure to take care of everyone. Including me.” 

“But you’re not a part of the gang,” Alba said more as a statement than a question. Yet, she was confused by her own thoughts and blinked, “... Are you?” 

You smiled carefully by her question and shook your head. 

“No, I’m not a part of anything. They keep me out of it as best they can... You know, it works most of the time unless James is suddenly showing up like a pop-in annoying character.” 

“Okay, so James is a part of a gang as well?” Alba folded her legs together and rested her chin on her knees. 

“Yeah, just not the same as my brother’s. They’re rivals, but James isn’t the leader. He’s seriously just trying to fill out the shoes of someone else.” You folded your hands together, happy that the topic about your relationship with Ashton was forgotten. 

“Who?” Alba asked but this time you became quiet. 

You looked down at your fingers. Ashton had really gotten into your head because just by thinking of his name you got scared. You had never actually met this guy. 

“His name is Marc Walker.” You folded your hands together and looked at Alba. 

“As in James Walker? Brothers?” Alba was so invested in the conversation you thought she had probably forgotten she was scared in the first place. 

You hummed in response and looked out of the window, “Story was told he was expelled from here after an incident. And I know this might sound mysterious but it happened at the same time as Luke and the others were expelled.”

“And you’re sure they have a part in that.” Alba rubbed her hands together almost excited, “This is just like Criminal Minds.” 

“I’m sure you can identify yourself with Dr. Reid.” You smiled and she shook her head but laughed. 

“Oh, I wished I had an IQ of 187. Probably sometime when I’ve graduated college.” Alba sat for a moment thinking and then processed to look back at you. 

“They’ve never told you?” She asked, “I mean, they are many rumors trying to solve the mystery. Some have predicted they sold drugs on the parking lot and printed something into Marc’s assignments. But it is all stories that have been twisted in many ways.” 

You furrowed your eyebrows just a little bit because one thing was that the drugs were true. If it wasn’t because you started at the college they would still proceed to do it. There was so much money in selling to college students.

But printing it onto Marc’s assignments sounded too much of a rumor to be true. 

Even you could come up with something more convincing than that. 

“They never told me.” You shook your head, “Probably to protect me. I don’t know if it could affect me knowing. You’d be surprised to hear how many enemies they have. It’s like they have a bigger list than the one where people actually like them.” 

“It’s funny because I remember they were popular,” Alba said, “Or I’ve heard.” She corrected. 

You nodded your head in agreement and sighed carefully, “Calum was practically lead captain. Coach Hanson loved him more than anything and to see him get expelled was like, pure horror to his ears. He really did have a future in football and sadly, that was taken away. I actually think he enjoyed it, it was probably the only thing they liked about college.” 

You leaned back with your head touching the wall and looked up at the ceiling. You needed to change one of the lights that had seemed to be broken. 

“Sometimes I just wish I knew. The curiosity takes over. The thoughts are itching for answers.” 

“Then scratch.” Alba encouraged and fished her keys out to place it on her nightstand next to her. 

Usually, she would be hanging them right next to where her jacket was hanging. You had too many hooks compared to how little clothes she did have.

That was when you noticed it and you furrowed your eyebrows. 

She started to talk about something else, it sounded like she wanted to go to the library to rent some sort of biology book and your jaw fell. 

“Can I come with you?” You asked and she widened your eyes. 

“To the library?” She asked, eyes bigger than yours. 

You nodded your head in agreement with a huge smile and stood up from your bed in reaction. 

She was looking at you the way she was not convinced. You had never visited the library, not even when you had to see if you could rent some books instead of buying them down at the local store. 

“Do you still have the chip that works almost every door at the library?” 

She nodded her head slowly, wanting you to continue. 

“Also the old archive in the basement?” You asked and her eyebrows lifted. 

“The old archive nobody is allowed to be at because it keeps stuff in which students aren’t allowed to see?” She just had to double check and you almost nodded your head furiously. 

“What if that can explain why they were expelled? It might give us answers.” You blinked twice, looking at her with your jaw falling. 

“Aren’t you just a little bit curious to know?” 

“I have no idea how you dragged me into this but I sure hope it’s good,” Alba mumbled more to herself than you as you walked down the swirling staircase. 

“We’ll see what happens.” You turned on the flashlight you had brought along, watching how cobweb was reflecting in shadows. 

What a dirty and creepy space. 

You shook your head feeling goosebumps appear on your arm by hearing the door faint in the background close. Lamps weren’t working, the only source of light came from you. 

“I’m not even sure I can navigate here.” Alba used the chip to open the grey large door that appeared once you were down the stairs. 

You watched her fool a bit, it was probably a while since somebody had been down here. You didn’t wonder. You were waiting for the heart attack in a form of a spider. This was, after all, Sydney Australia. 

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t think anyone will notice we are down here.” 

When you walked inside you couldn’t avoid the nasty smell of either fungus or some sort of death. Alba almost wanted to take a step back just in reaction. 

“Oh my god...” She mumbled under her breath and tried to flick on the lights. 

Amazingly enough, the only lamp in the ceiling actually worked. It wasn’t much and it only seemed dimmed but it was enough for you to turn off your flashlight. 

“I think the only thing I can say is, let’s get to it.” You looked at the many shelves with files. It was insane how much this basement could actually carry. 

Alba nodded her head in agreement and headed towards the left part of the room. So obviously, you took the right. 

It was insane to see how many cases the school had. You wouldn’t imagine considering it was newly renovated and it wasn’t often there were conflicts. 

“Is Ashton’s middle name Fletcher?” 

Your hair almost fell in your face as you turned around to look at Abla who stood with a file in her hands. 

“I don’t know. Is the last name Irwin?” You asked and she nodded her head. 

“I don’t think this is a case about him though. It seems it’s about someone else.” Alba explained and grabbed another one from the pile. 

“Here,” She suddenly said excitedly, “Case 104. Marc David Walker, Luke Robert Hemmings, Calum Thomas Hood, Michael Gordon Clifford, Ashton Fletcher Irwin, Karen Johnson.” 

“Karen Johnson?” You asked in confusion and let go of whatever you had in your hands.

“You haven’t heard of Karen Johnson?” Alba asked and you shook your head no. 

“She was the one who was suspected of being murdered in this building.”

Your eyes became so wide you were sure they were ready to fall out from your face. You almost ran towards her to see the file because in reality you thoughts she was joking. 

“It was never stated in rumors if she was actually murdered or not but here it says that she was,” Alba explained and you stopped to stand right next to her. “

“Why are the boys involved?” You furrowed your eyebrows and Alba held her breath. 

“Ashton was the last person seen with her before her body was found. They all found evidence the boys were at the school same time as the murdering happened.”

“Who murdered her?” You looked at her with wide eyes, feeling how goosebumps were appearing on every inch of your skin if possible. 

“Marc Walker was charged in court and stated to prison for first-degree murder.” Alba read what was written the paper and you could feel yourself shaking. 

“The gun that was used on her had Marc’s fingerprints. There were also found evidence of blood stains on her shirt in which came from Marc. The gun that was used had the exact same bullets that were found inside the victim’s body parts. 4 bullets were used to kill her right in the second. She wasn’t suffering.”

You listened to Alba reading out loud but also tried to scan the papers yourself. 

It was a long court list, you didn’t even know they had been to court. You’d imagine you would have noticed because you could see that it had happened several times because either Walker or one of the boys not showing up. 

“There’s surveillance camera showing that Ashton and the victim walked into the library together. But there was also proof that Ashton wasn’t at the library at the time of the murder because he is seen on a surveillance camera outside at the hallway meeting with Calum.” 

You shook your head in disbelief. For many years you had known they were living in a hard industry. Not one with murder investigations and death. 

“The headmaster didn’t want any dirt on the school’s reputation and since the boys already had a few conflicts he decided to expel all four of them. He didn’t want to take a chance in case it was indeed one of the boys that had a part in committing the murder. Walker disappeared once court was over after he was supposed to be admitted to prison. He has still gone missing and nobody knows where he is.” 

“Oh my god...” You mumbled under your breath, seeing pictures being attached to the documents from the surveillance cameras. Ashton was exposed with his curly locks at the top and a black hoodie over his head. 

Another showed Luke and Michael walking into one of the offices at school. For what, you didn’t know but it was around 4pm to 5pm. Why didn’t anyone notice them?

“Did anyone hear the gunshots?” You asked but Alba shook her head, “It was down by the basement just around the-,” Alba looked up and her jaw fell slightly. 

“Just on the hallway outside of the archive room.” 

You looked up by the mention and looked towards the door. Your blood suddenly felt like freezing to ice. Knew the shivers and goosebumps were everywhere on your body. 

“Seems like everything ties to here.” Alba shook away the goosebumps and looked for more files. 

“I think so to-,” Before you finished your sentence you felt a small jolt running through your body by a sound coming from the stairs. 

At first, you thought you were the only one noticing. But the way Alba was looking towards the door with her mouth falling and her breath hitching in her throat, you heard the same. 

“Don’t move.” You whispered, not knowing who it was but with the circumstances you took zero chances. 

You leaned your hand down to grasp the cold handle you had hidden in the pocket of your denim jacket. Alba almost got strangled by her own spit when she noticed what you had in your hands. 

“Where the hell did you get a gun?” She whisper-yelled almost in panic. 

“After the cut to my stomach I was too paranoid to walk around on my own so I stole one of Luke’s. He’s got too many to notice and there are only a few bullets in it so it’s just for protection. Like pepper spray.” 

“Pepper spray! Y/N you could kill someone with that!” Alba was about to shout but you shushed at her. 

“It’s only for the scene and scares Albs, I have no idea how to use it.” 

You were indeed telling the truth. This was actually the first time you were holding the gun and you had no idea what you were supposed to do other than holding it in front of you to protect you and Alba. 

“What if it’s-,” Alba shut her mouth when she heard stumbles coming from the stairs again. You could feel your knees shake and you held your breath. 

You weren’t sure what the sudden sound was or where it came from, but it was louder than before and in reaction and pure shock, you accidentally shot towards the ceiling. 

“Oh my god,” Alba managed to exclaim, her hands coming up to her mouth to cover from more voices as you managed to shoot the only lamp in the room. 

Darkness surrendered you and you couldn’t help but apologize more than once. 

“I-, I really shouldn’t have stolen it I have no idea how to handle it.” You stammered and shoved it down in your pocket to grasp your flashlight instead. 

Alba breathed in heavily and nodded her head in agreement. At least she wasn’t mad. 

“Whatever was here you scared it away.” She scrunched up the glasses on her nose and you nodded your head in agreement. 

“Let’s leave,” You mumbled, “I don’t want to be here anymore.” 

Alba nodded and watched as you fished the files in your net, wanting to save them in case of wanting to know more and hurried towards the stairs with her. 

The sunny weather hit you right in the face once you were out of the basement, library, and the building. You hadn’t noticed but your breath hitched in your throat and your heart was beating faster. 

“Uh-, Y/N.” Alba mentioned and you looked at her. 

“I think you’re in trouble.” 

You followed her eyes towards the parking lot and your jaw dropped when you noticed the familiar red Mustang. Not to mention Luke and Ashton leaning against it with sunglasses in their hair and almost matching leather jackets. 

“Okay, shit.” You mumbled under your breath and turned around to face her. 

“Please, hide these.” You gave her the net and she couldn’t help but nod her head in agreement, “Hide them where nobody else would look beside you. Somewhere clever. I’ll see you later when I get home.” 

She nodded her head repeatedly and turned around, watching you slowly head towards the boys, trying to act like what you had just figured out wasn’t something. 

When you came close enough you couldn’t tell whether they were mad or not. But for what reason, you couldn’t point out. It was nearly impossible for Luke to notice that you were gone. 

“You know I was just about to break those doors, right?” Ashton remarked, his head nodding towards the front entrance to the building. 

You glanced over your shoulder, looking where he was referring to. 

You opened your mouth ready to speak but Luke came before you. 

“You know I’ve called you twelve times, right?” He asked and that definitely caught you off guard. 

Reaching down to grab your phone to you lifted it in the air. Indeed, Luke had been calling and not just once. 

“Oh my god, Luke I’m so sorry,” You mumbled, “I’ve had classes and I couldn’t have it on sound so it’s just been on silent. I’m so sorry I understand your struggles.”

“Well, you were saved by pretty pants and his very short football shorts.” Luke nodded his head towards the football field behind him, “James is at a game so he took just a bit of the nervousness away from us.” 

You smiled sincerely at them and sighed. It was a nice sigh though, it meant you were saved by the bell. 

“You want a lift to your dorm?” Ashton asked and even though you could easily walk you nodded your head in agreement. You didn’t want to sound or seem suspicious or different. 

Taking your usual spot at the backseat right behind Ashton, you watched Luke take the passenger seat and waited for Ashton to put the car in reverse. 

Luke was talking and talking but you weren’t really listening. You were sitting with your head almost in your hands, trying to collect all the information at once. It was now the thoughts were running around. 

Ashton did take notice and when you coincidentally looked up to glance at the back mirror, your eyes met. 

“What’s wrong?” He mouthed instantly, eyes fixed on either the road or you. 

You shrugged, not really knowing what to answer. Luke was still continuing his story so he wouldn’t take notice. 

“Come on,” He mouthed again and turned to the left. 

“Nothing.” You mouthed back and looked down at your lap again, not wanting to meet his eyes. The thoughts couldn’t stop wondering. 

Did Marc really kill that woman?

You were so quick to loosen your seatbelt once Ashton parked in front of your dorm house. 

“You wanna come over on Friday? We’re watching movies.” Luke asked as you walked past the car to stand on the pavement. 

“No actually, one of the fraternities are hosting this 2009 themed party I was planning on going to.” 

“What?” Luke asked with furrowed eyebrows. Ashton was having the same expression. 

“What?” You said back but in a different tone. 

“And what if James will be there?” He asked angrily. 

“You know I can’t live my life after where he’s staying and not.” 

“But that’s basically feeding bones to the lion!” Luke exclaimed and you watched how Ashton remained quiet. He didn’t need to say anything to show that he was sharing the same opinion as Luke. 

“No, I’m telling you Y/N, it’s a bad idea.” He was looking at you the way you knew you wouldn’t get what you wanted. When he was settled he was ready to open fire to get it how he wanted.

“It’s fine you think it’s a bad idea, I respect that.” You weren’t normally the one to discuss, “But this is my life and you have to respect my decisions, even if you don’t agree.”

You wanted to have the last word so instead of standing by to listen you turned around and left. You didn’t want to end the discussion because you could never win one with Luke.

He shook his head in disbelief and looked around the art room for something to use. He had never treated a burn like this but neither did he ever come across the thought that James would be able to harm you again. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He hated failing.

“He was there all of the sudden. I’ve always been aware that we started at the same college but I haven’t seen the shadow of him. Only once but he didn’t lay a finger on me. It has all suddenly changed.” You watched him head towards the sink with pencils and water paint.

“We must assume it’s because we’re back. It’s what has triggered him again.” Ashton flipped his curls away from his face and looked in search for tissues. Anything he could use to gently clean your face.

“I was waiting for Luke outside and suddenly he just grabbed me. Out of nowhere. I wasn’t prepared at all and he was sneaky because everyone else had seemed to left. I had no eyewitnesses or someone to help.”

You mumbled the last part and scratched your arms where you were sure bruises would soon form. It wasn’t with gentleness you had been thrown into the trashcan that nearly couldn’t fit you. You already prepared for the marks.

“Not that I think anyone would have saved me for the matter. James is the most popular but feared person at the campus.” You touched a spot on your arm and looked over to see him glance up at you, “Not when you’re not around anymore.”

His eyes showed a mix of pain but also anger, he didn’t know how to react or what to say. He knew that the second they had been expelled from the place everything would change. It was the reason why they had left for a month to think and pass what was going to happen.

“I know.” It was simply said and he hated it, but nothing else could come from his mouth. It was the only thing he had to say for now.

Leaning over to take a few tissues he settled with cooling down your skin. It was the least he could do and knowing with chemicals like this the only thing that would help would be water. It always seemed to be the right solution.

“Does it still burn?” The question was a little bit dumb considering the massive amount of redness but he still needed to ask. Just to be sure.

“Yeah it’s-,” You trailed off nervously not really knowing how to describe the pain. It hurt more like hell, every time you spoke it started to stretch and burn.

“Here, let me.” He finished your sentence and wet the tissues with cold water.

You watched him take the walk between the tables filled with scattered brushes and old artwork, something you could recall as yours and others made by friends and acquaintances. This room had been your safe spot. Now it was almost scarier than being outside.

“I can’t believe he would do this to you.” He mumbled when using the tissue against the skin, wanting to be as gentle as possible to not hurt you more than you already were.

“I can.” You replied like it wasn’t a shocker and looked up at him.

“I mean I do too but I just still… I don’t understand how a human can be so mean… Not towards someone so kind like you I mean… You’re basically a baby seal. Nobody should ever harm you.”

His words made a deep blush appear on your cheeks almost deeper than the ones on your burns. He carefully moved the tissues over your lips and pressed his other hand against the table to lean closer without it being too close.

“It makes me the easiest target.” You admitted, saying the words that you both knew were the truth.

“Not only am I weak but he knows by using me he will get to Luke. He will get to all of you with one snap.”

“Don’t blame yourself.” He replied and folded the tissue to find a clean and cold side, “You didn’t choose the life. It was something you were dragged into.”

You looked down at your dangling feet against the table and hummed in response. It was true and you didn’t want to argue. Ashton had never been fond of that you were aware after witnessing many fights between him and your brother.

He looked over his shoulder to look outside of the window. You weren’t sure if it was because he wanted to distract himself or if it was because he didn’t like seeing you in pain. He didn’t say a thing and when he glanced back at you took a look at your skin to see if anything had helped.

“How ha-, How have you been?” You managed to stammer with a thick lump forming in your throat. You had been dying to ask since the first sight of him and it had to be said. One of you needed to ask and start the conversation.

“Shh… I don’t think it’s good for you to talk.” He whispered, not because he wanted to drag you down but because he could see by every word that came from your lips, the pain would increase.

You nodded your head silently and looked back at your lap. You weren’t sure whether the red and blue marks were coming from the water paint you had been using previously or if it was James and his strong grip.

“I’ve been… Well.” He suddenly announced and you looked up at him with a bit of surprise in your eyes. He didn’t sound as well as he was trying to convince you.

“Or I don’t really know how to explain how I’ve been feeling but it’s better. My apartment has finally been sold and a few days ago Luke, Cal, Mike and I moved into our new house. It’s like a new fresh start. For all of us.”

He made sure to add extra pressure and look carefully at you by his last words. He knew that it would be the best for everyone, to erase the not so old memories of his old bedroom, his old apartment and everything happening at once.

You blinked not really knowing what to say and decided to nod your head. It was somehow the best way to answer but also the most annoying way because it showed that you heard, but were closed like a book.

“I think that month away from everything seemed to do the job. It made me think of everything else, it made me think of the mistakes we did.” He announced and somehow you felt a stinging sensation by the word of mistakes.

You didn’t want to ask if he saw it as mistakes but of course, you knew it was the truth. But the truth hurt just like the burns and you decided to nod your head again. The most annoying answer of the world, you hate when people did it to you.

“It’s all put behind. We all have a new fresh start.” You added with a final nod and looked up at him with a sigh.

Everything was a new fresh start. Finally getting the chance to move out of Luke’s apartment and into a new freshly decorated dorm. It was your new start of life without troubles, mistakes and constant fights and battles.

When you started in college after the summer you believed it would be the change in your life. You know that thing where you believe it would be the right for you, that little burning sensation in the pit of your stomach telling you that it was time for a well-deserved change and that it would finally be different.

But what you hadn’t expected was James studying in the same place as you.

“You know it would all have just been easy if I could just beat the shit out of him and call it quits.” He hummed more to himself than you knowing how much you hated the violence. It showed the polar opposites you were.

“He’d never dare to do anything as much as having a single thought of you if he saw my face every single day. I’m sorry I can’t do that for you.” He looked down at the ground with a frown for a second, thoughts racing in his mind fast.

“You know if you’re too afraid you can always quit college and move back into Luke’s again. At least from that, we know you’re 100% safe.”

“No.” You were quick to answer and shook your head to illustrate how much you meant it.

“I need this degree, it’s the only thing that makes me look forward. If I move back the only thing I see is a future of living in Luke’s basement all covered up in bubble wrap. I don’t want my life to be like that, I want to wake up every single day preparing for my future.”

“He just wants to protect you. You’re the only thing he cares about in life.” Ashton reminded, not that he wanted to be annoying he just wanted to state the truth.

“I know but still it’s just…” You didn’t know how to properly finish your sentence so you shrugged your shoulder almost feeling defeated.

It had been less than a month and the feeling of freedom was the one keeping you alive every single day. It was only because you had once a week where you met Luke that you decided to still catch up with him now that he was also back.

“I just wish he could protect me a little less?” The sentence wasn’t supposed to come out as a question but it did and you squeezed an eye in hesitation.

“I don’t think that’s gonna happen.” Ashton grinned by your words and placed the tissue on the surface on the table that wasn’t filled with artwork.

“I’m used to it I guess.” You shrugged again and smiled as well. It had been a while since you had talked like this. Without the awkwardness and tension. For once it was actually a real smile you were flashing him.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but stopped in mid-track and laughed instead. It was quietly but still as contagiously as it had always been. The way he would flash his dimples and wide smile always made everyone around him in a good mood.

“As long as you’re okay now I’m happy.” He gently lifted his warm and large hand to touch the skin that wasn’t burned. His thumb was rough yet also soft against your cheekbone and you looked up at him with careful eyes.

“And you know if Luke doesn’t protect you enough…” He removed his hand and pressed it against the tables instead with the palms.

“I’ll always be behind to take over.”

You nodded slowly and let the words sink in. You always knew that they both shared the passion of protecting you. Sometimes it was like a constant battle you were surprised Luke hadn’t grown more suspicious over Ashton.

He gave you one last smile and furrowed his eyebrows when he felt a vibration in his pocket. It seemed to kill the mood completely but when Ashton heard what Michael had to say at the other end of the phone everything seemed to change.

“You did what?” It was an amused smile that came to Ashton’s face by Michael’s words but you weren’t able to make out what was being said. You could only hear who the voice belonged too.

“Okay, two seconds we will be out within a minute.” He replied before hanging up on the phone, not helping less on your sudden confusion and forced his phone back in his leather jacket.

“Come on.” He directed and helped you down from the table.

“I’ve got something to show you.”

It was with confusion and your eyebrow quivered that you followed him out of the classroom and towards the exit.

Glares were shared between the students you passed by, you weren’t sure it if was because you looked like someone who had been eating too many strawberries or if it was because you were walking with Ashton. Some were, in fact, quick to leave once his glance directed towards them.

You had no idea where he was leading you but once he opened the door in politeness for you to walk out first you sensed it. Everyone was running towards the same direction and it was towards the football field.

“They didn’t do something stupid, did they?” You asked nervously and passed by his familiar car, watching him open the door just for a second to place his leather jacket at the backseat.

“They did something deserved,” Ashton replied with a grin and didn’t help on the many scenarios going through your head at once. You knew what they were capable of when they put their minds together.

It was never pretty.

People were crowded around the place by the football goal close to the blue seats for people to watch. On distance, you hadn’t been able to fully see what was going on but once you were close enough you lost your breath completely.

“Oh my-, It’s even better than they explained over the phone,” Ashton said from your side, his hand coming up to remove his curls and his face fully impressed.

Luke and Michael were sitting on each side of the fence with their long legs dangling down, during their finishing touches for the work of ‘art’ they had made towards James.

He was from what you could see fully naked and all taped up in grey duct tape to make sure he was hanging onto one of the metal poles. On his nipples, they had made x’s and not to mention you could see his clothes were scattered on the dirty grass.

His mouth was covered with another piece of duct tape and his hair looked so tousled you were sure they had been pulling on the roots to get him up, it was Luke’s personal thing. He loved the pain it caused and how easy it was to drag people around with such little power.

Your jaw was almost close to touching the ground, no matter how many times you had seen or prepared for this they always seemed to take your breath and not in a good way. You felt deep inside that this was your fault and to see people’s reaction was hard.

Some were laughing while others were unsure if they should break in or not. No one had the guts to do it, no one wanted to mess with the gang. It was as if they had committed a robbery right away.

“What do you say?” Ashton asked into your ear still with the same smile on his face. You never understood why they enjoyed this.

“I-, I think it’s a little bit harsh.” You didn’t want to words to slip past your lips because you knew he wouldn’t understand but you still said it.

You didn’t want to think like this, you wanted to be a hard nut like the rest of the guys but you couldn’t. You wore your heart on your sleeves and carried it around for everyone to see. No matter how many times James had hurt you in some sort of way you still cringed by how hard the boys could do revenge.

“It’s everything he deserves. If he doesn’t like the backfire in his ass he shouldn’t be messing with you in the first place.” Ashton responded but wasn’t mad. He was used to you being this kind. It was what he loved for you.

“Maybe this teaches him one final time that he shouldn’t lay a hand on you ever again.”

You nodded your head in agreement but didn’t quite believe his words. It was all a game to them. To see who could do the worst thing and somehow you were always the puzzle, the one that they always had to battle around with.

“Should we take him down?” Michael asked with a laugh and looked over at Luke who shrugged with the same smile.

“I’m not sure.” He responded and leaned over on the metal to hover over James and lean down to grab the end of the tape around his mouth to pull it off.

You hurried to place your fingers by your ears to cover the horrifying scream that would come from James once Luke would pull off the tape but it still wasn’t enough. It left goosebumps on your arms you could almost imagine the pain was the same as yours.

“How many times do I have to tell you I’m sorry?” James practically yelled in desperation, drool around the ends of his mouth.

“I’m not the one who you should apologize to,” Luke replied in a singing voice.

“And who allowed you to speak anyways?” Michael asked and flashed Luke a secret smile before he searched into his pocket for a bottle.

You couldn’t see what it was but by the excitement going through Ashton’s body next to you, you were aware that it wouldn’t be something good.

“Oh my, you didn’t.” Luke laughed and clapped his hands together in excitement.

“I stole it from the chemistry class. I thought since James is so happy to use hydrochloric acid how about he gets a taste himself?” Michael wiggled the bottle in front of James excitedly and opened it despite him constantly wiggling his head away.

“This is for my little sister,” Luke said through gritted teeth and watched Michael force the bottle into James’s mouth while he held it still, watching James squirm and choke on the liquid.

It wasn’t until the bottle was emptied completely Michael let go of it all and watched as James spit it out in pain. He was moaning, groaning and almost screaming all at the same time, the sweat was dripping from his forehead.

The burns around his mouth were much worse than they were on you, you stood completely stunned not knowing how to react or what to say.

Luke and Michael high fived each other and jumped down from the goal with yet another laugh, hearing the sounds of wheels driving fast from the parking lot and James’ friends coming out of the car in action.

“Looks like your puppies arrived just in time.” Michael leaned against the goal casually and watched them run towards the grass with a fast pace, almost knocking into each other during the process.

“I assume one of them will be dedicated to jumping into the sewage system to get your clothes. I mean unless you want to walk all the way back to your dorm in that attire.” Luke nodded towards the duct tape and watched Calum use his strength to open the lid and helped Luke to throw the clothes away.

You watched James’ friends trying to crawl up onto the goal to save their friend in need, looking in the corner of your eye to see Ashton make a hand sign to the boys.

They all smiled in satisfaction and walked together towards the parking lot, some students still standing to watch James’ misery while others left after the party had officially stopped.

You stood confused trying to let everything sink in. This wasn’t how you wanted everything to be, yet you were already forced into it without the power of saying no.

It was a gutted feeling that ran up your spine when James looked over at your direction with many different emotions in his eyes. He was clearly hurt, not emotionally but obviously physically though it wasn’t the thing that scared you the most.

It was that little bit of hardness he had in his eyes, that this had taken him down for fifteen minutes but he would back on track within a second. He could already taste the revenge and his dartboard was right in front of him.

But that was when you felt that quick sensation on your fingers. The way fingertips were suddenly brushing over yours.

Looking up at Ashton with a blank expression he was still looking forward but was indeed smiling. You could feel how his fingers slowly touched yours, not in the way that he wanted to hold your hand but just the thing that gave the little tickling sensation.

The more he touched and didn’t see you flinch the more he tried. His fingers mixed between yours and the substance between cold and warm was there. He always had warm hands. It was like comfort to your cold ones.

You opened your mouth to let out a deep breath wanting to say something but in the end deciding that you shouldn’t.

You fluttered your eyes open, just wanting the confirm of what happened wasn’t just in your head.

The curtains to Luke’s room was off so the grey skies from outside gave the room light. You looked at the cushions where Ashton had been sitting but he was nowhere to be seen. You hadn’t even noticed he left.

You a rand through your hair which was pretty messy. You didn’t have anything to get it away from your face so you settled with using your fingers as a comb.

When you sat up in bed after taking another look, you couldn’t help but grimace.

The pain was obvious, almost like a pounding migraine but on the skin. Your hand came down instantly to the hurt spot, feeling the bandage with spots of blood coming from the stitches.

God, you had almost forgotten. You didn’t want to remember now when you were being honest. You didn’t want to think that this was going to stay with you for the rest of your life.

It wasn’t big, it was easier to see how large the area was when lights were on and you weren’t affected by adrenaline or a pounding bass from downstairs. In fact, it was all so quiet, you could barely hear voices.

You weren’t even sure if the party was still going on. Sometimes you had caught Luke still partying at 8 am. A party never stopped until the host went to bed and he usually just stayed awake to the early mornings.

9:30 it was. You noticed because of your phone still having the battery on. It was only at 2% so it wouldn’t be surviving for long. You decided to put it into Luke’s charter before settling with investigating what was going on downstairs.

The long hem of Luke’s band tee folded to the edge when you stood up from the mattress. It almost hid your shorts and made it seem like you were just in your underwear.

You didn’t want to change, it didn’t feel like it was needed. They knew you had been sleeping in your shorts so you didn’t assume they would misinterpret the situation.

The voices from downstairs suddenly sounded downstairs and you concluded the party was over. You could hear Luke and his raspy voice, something he always adopted when drinking. That, along with his eyes turning a bloody red.

Sometimes he was mistaken for being on crack. You didn’t judge dem, he dealt with drugs daily and it was easy to conclude. But he knew better, he would never take time in using that on himself. He only sold it because of the money sometimes when he wanted to.

It was mostly Michael who spent time in that department. It wasn’t just once the police had taken him to the station overnight when they were catching him illegally selling on parking lots.

”Wait but no, as fun as it sounds I have to stay home. After all the stuff that has been going on the past few days, I don’t want Y/N to be alone now.”

You stopped in track by the end of the stairs because of Luke’s voice.

“I can stay behind if so?” Ashton suggested, maybe a little bit too fast for his liking but he couldn’t control his suggestion. It was the first thing that came to his mind and he said it out loud instead of thinking.

You could see the two of them by the kitchen island with Calum. The house looked like a scattered mess but they had black plastic bags standing by the counters so you assumed they were in the middle of cleaning.

That was the thing with them. They always seemed to mess like crazy, especially during parties. But they always managed to clean everything and usually when you would visit after a party, it looked cleaner than it did on a normal basis.

“You sure about that? You’re usually the one handling the business, let alone the one who’s perfectionistic. You don’t usually like when we handle your tasks.” Michael questioned before Luke got the chance to say anything and he looked over at Ashton a bit astonished.

“I mean we’ve all agreed to take care of Y/N individually.” Ashton shrugged, not really knowing how to save it, “I guess you can just say my duty is calling. I don’t mind, to be honest.”

The boys looked between each other skeptical at first but then Luke shrugged it off and threw his jacket over his shoulder.

“You are the one that gets with her the best.” He admitted and took a look in the mirror to check his hair. Even with battles, he wanted to make sure he looked good during it.

“But you promise me one thing.” He suddenly warned and Ashton held his breath, thinking worst case scenarios.

“Don’t let anyone in unless it’s one of the three of us.”

Ashton hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath but once he realized Luke wasn’t, in fact, thinking the same thing as him he let out a sound of relief. He nodded his head in agreement and watched the boys head towards the door, waving lightly at them as they left.

He turned around the corner to see you come down from the stairs with a confused gaze on your face.

“What is going on?” You questioned confused once you were down to the last step and looked around, “Where did Luke go?”

“The usual,” Ashton replied quietly, his lips tightening.

You nodded your head in agreement but not because you understood what he was referring to. You never had, you had never asked and to be honest you were better off not knowing why. They had always been referring it to ‘the usual’ or ‘business’ when talking about stuff they wanted to keep you out from.

“Why aren’t you with them?” You tried not to pretend you had been listening all along. You didn’t want to realize that they were switching places in order to keep you safe.

He shrugged his shoulders and headed over to the fridge, wanting to change the subject and avoiding giving you an answer.

“What do you want for breakfast?”

“I’m not hungry.” You shook your head and scratched your arm out of habit. You weren’t sure if it was because of the many painkillers you felt nausea. It gave you a headache, you honestly couldn’t manage the law class later.

“You have to eat something,” He carefully said and grabbed a few buns from one of the drawers.

“Isn’t that just a myth?” You crossed your arms and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“I know what you’re trying to do.” He let go of the bag and took the few steps to stand in front of you.

“You’re on the path of war because I didn’t answer your question. If I know you well enough I know that you already understand what is going on.”

You looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, not really knowing how to handle the situation. It wasn’t often you looked at it that way. Ashton was probably used to handling you.

“We’ve all agreed to take care of you. It came along when your parents moved to Wellington.”

He reached to grab the buns and put three in the oven. 2 for him and one for you. He wasn’t going to stop until you had put something in your mouth.

You sighed carefully and nodded your head in agreement.

Most of your life you were raised with your parents. It wasn’t often you saw them, considering they were in the same industry as your brothers. Not just Luke, but also Ben and Jack. They all took a part in the bittersweet life and you were the only one they prayed would turn into something great.

You actually believed that if it wasn’t for James constantly trying to ruin it.

Growing up was kind of harsh. The house never looked clean, nobody was rarely home and if they were, it wasn’t someone you knew off. Luke always made sure that if he wasn’t there to take care of you, some sort of babysitter would.

It wasn’t that you were all wrapped up in bubble wrap. You understood what they were doing, you knew they were handling weapons and you also knew in between the lines there were drugs. But you also trusted Luke. You knew he wouldn’t do such thing like that.

You had always tried to take a distance. It wasn’t easy considering they always had one eye on you. You couldn’t even walk out at the age of 14 without Luke needing to know where you were heading.

He could be an embarrassment at times. He couldn’t keep a barrier between being the overprotective big brother and also being the fun one. He was definitely the fun out of the four, always doing random shit you couldn’t imagine.

He was the one forcing the bullies to apologize, even if you were only 8. You didn’t understand where he got the power because he wasn’t tall until his late teens. It was like one day he woke up and was suddenly 6’3.

Not even the teachers in middle school wanted to call him out for things. You had no count of how many times he had tied someone to the sinks in the bathroom or something along the lines of that because they had said a mean comment to you.

You almost feared he would find out because you knew it would end up ugly. Just like with James. It was like nothing had changed.

You had always lived your life close to Luke. You had been staying at the same apartment since you were 16 and you always knew you could come to him when you needed it.

He always had the apartment full but only with people you knew of. He wouldn’t drag someone home and he definitely wouldn’t drag a woman home. The only girl in his life was you, and he wasn’t interested in anyone else.

You honestly thought you were going to stay at the apartment for the rest of your life. College was what changed your everyday life upside down.

When you tried to float the idea about moving out and into a dorm when you started college, it was like nonsense to Luke. How was he going to protect you, if you were miles away from him?

He didn’t want to admit it but he loved just walking into your room and sitting by your bed. Not saying anything but just enjoying watching you study, seeing whatever programme was on the TV or listening to the music that was blasting from your pink speakers.

You sometimes thought he was bored and doing it out of boredom. But the truth was he enjoyed just watching you be happy. It helped him knowing that you were on the right path.

In the end, he knew he couldn’t keep you inside the walls of the apartment. If you needed to continue the path he needed to let go and give you freedom.

You almost believed he had commitment issues because the second you made the deal and you got into a dorm at Sydney Falls College Campus, it was like he had to move out as well. He didn’t want to stay at the old apartment and the boys had been venting the dream of living together.

It also meant that they didn’t have to leave every single day to see each other, they could just walk into the other room and say hello.

It was in the middle of chaos because just the second you had gotten your acceptance letter from Sydney Falls, Luke came home to announce they had been expelled.

For what, he couldn’t announce. You neither wanted to ask even though you were dying to know. So many things had happened at that college before and you didn’t really understand they were suddenly expelled for good.

Sometimes Luke would come home and announce he was kicked out of class for either violence or similar activities. But that wasn’t expelled where they weren’t allowed to be on the school’s ground.

You weren’t even sure if they were allowed in your dorm. You’d lie if you say you weren’t about to have a heart attack when you were about to move in because the four of them were helping you. You were having a glance over your shoulder every other minute because you needed to make sure nobody was seeing them.

Everyone had heard the news that they were expelled. They weren’t a high topic but it was a relief to the ones who were scared. The boys never had a great reputation and you weren’t surprised by that.

They seemed pretty intimidating when they walked down the hallway as a pack that couldn’t be broken. In their leather jackets with a cigarette between their fingers and black leather jackets.

You had tried asking Luke once but he was rejecting. You didn’t know if it was because you had moved out you were suddenly let out of the information. He didn’t want to answer and told that you were safe without the information.

That was when they announce they were going to be away for a while. You had no idea why, how or where they were going but they had to leave. You were protesting at first because not living near Luke kind of scared you. But in the end, it was a great choice because it meant you got a great start at college without someone watching you behind your back.

You got the start you wanted and three months later the boys were back. It was like everything was back to normal, yet it was some sort of new start.

But as soon as the boys were back, it was like you had become a target. For no reason, you had never done anything to hurt James. You even tried to help him back in kindergarten when Luke was forcing him to eat sand.

“Why are you so afraid something is going to happen to me?” You sat down on one of the white chairs in front of the wooden table.

There was a large purple orchid standing in the middle of the table next to a salt and pepper set. You assumed it was a host gift from last night.

Ashton couldn’t help but chuckle by your question. He was hovering over the buns, watching them finish until they were warm and crispy.

“Because you’re Daphne.” He answered simply and you furrowed your eyebrows, “Daphne Joy?”

“No, no not her.” Ashton was quick to shake his head, “I’m not talking about her. I’m talking about Daphne Blake.”

“You’re seriously comparing me to a Scooby Doo character?” You tried not to sound a bit insulted but you were, “Michael used to call me that when I was younger. It’s not like I’m getting stuck in trees anymore when playing.”

Ashton laughed again and stopped the toaster before he burned the buns.

“I’m not saying you’re a cartoon character,” He hummed and opened the fridge, “I’m just saying that you’re very fragile and the chance of you getting kidnapped is pretty high.”

He grabbed a package of butter, lifting it in the air as an invitation. You nodded your head in agreement and watched him place the butter in front of you.

“Is there a chance I will be kidnapped?” You lowered your voice, feeling a bit of anxiety just by the thought. It had crossed your mind before but the chances were in fact real.

He leaned his long body against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms. His mouth twisted and he looked down at the ground trying to come with an answer.

“We will try our utter best to avoid it. As long as you’re with me I promise you nothing will ever harm you.”

If there was one time where Ashton seemed serious, it was moments like this. Where you could see through his hazel eyes that he would never forgive himself if he managed to hurt you in any way that could have been prevented.

“Ashton, can I ask you something?”

He flicked his curls away from his eyes to look at you and nodded his head. You rubbed your hands together, not really knowing if you were going to catch an answer now.

“What happened?”

Silence fell upon the kitchen. Ashton looked at you with no expression on his face. You didn’t know if it was because he didn’t understand your question or if he was reliving the moment you just asked. Whatever was going on caught all his attention and he wasn’t saying anything.

“When?” His tone went serious and he lowered his voice.

You shifted in your seat and folded your hands together again. His eyes weren’t flicking away from your form and you were trying not to get red cheeks.

“I was just trying to understand-, I mean,” You were fumbling over your words suddenly becoming nervous. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

“Why were you expelled?”

Silence came again but this time a little less tense. It was like Ashton had imagined you would ask something else because he seemed relieved.

He loosened his body from the counter and grabbed a chair to take a seat.

“It seems to me you’ve heard something?” He asked just to be sure but you were quick to shake your head. You knew nothing.

“And you haven’t heard anything from college? I mean, it’s the source of gossip.”

You shook your head again. The only thing you had been hearing was it was a collision between the boys and James’ big brother. You had never actually met him and if you had it was many years back.

“Okay.” Ashton nodded his head and folded his hands together.

“You know Marc, right?” He asked and you shook your head, “Marc Walker? James’ big brother?” By the added question you nodded your head in agreement. You had just forgotten his name.

“He has always been a manipulating ass. Never the one to trust, the blond haired gorgeous idiot who’s only purpose on life is to make everyone else’s end. He’s part-time leader of the gang down by the West. We don’t get near that because it’s too dangerous for any of us.”

You nodded your head wanting him to continue as you intensely ate your bun with butter.

“We’ve always been on bad terms. Ever since high school we’ve hated each other, bloody hell I can even imagine it like it was yesterday. If I had to make a list of all the bad things he has done in his life I don’t think we would have the time.” Ashton took a bite of his own bun.

“We’ve collided many times. I don’t want to get into details with that but Marc did something that was, against all laws. Even in the gang world, you don’t break the rules. Even if we hate each other and want to kill each other we still respect the rules. That’s rule number one.”

The rules didn’t seem like something you had heard off before. You remembered Luke mentioning it a few years back but you assumed it was just a lame joke.

“What was that girl?” You lifted an eyebrow and Ashton replied it with, “We’ll get to that.”

“The boys and I were trying of a way to come up with something back. I mean, it wasn’t easy and it took at least two months before we were even feeling like normal people again. What Marc did was so terrible I honestly don’t think he would be able to survive if he was within my reach.”

You just wanted him to spill the beans, why did you need all these details.

“Luke was the one coming up with the plan. We had to do something that was going to hit James’ the hardest way possible. Without breaking the rules of course.” Ashton ran a hand through his locks, “I didn’t think it would be a great idea at first because it was risky. But we had to do something because he needed something back. He couldn’t just walk free with the things he had done.”

“But I can’t tell you what we did because it will one, cause you danger, and two, put us all in a risky position. Only the four of us can know. It has to be on my dead body if it slips out between these walls. They don’t talk.”

You honestly couldn’t feel more disappointed. He literally told nothing. You could easily have figured out yourself not to mention find out by just asking someone at campus.

“But you have to promise me one thing.” He looked at you seriously and you nodded your head in agreement wanting him to continue.

“If you ever see Marc Walker as in ever there’s one thing you’re going to do. Run.”

You didn’t want to know how dangerous he actually was. By the way, Ashton was talking about him you could just sense he was dangerous. He wasn’t someone you wanted to run into.

“He’s currently underground not wanting to be seen by anyone. So the coast is clear as long as he isn’t in Sydney. He disappeared once we all were expelled. He was supposed to be in jail but left before it happened. We haven’t seen his face since. You can kind of say our secret plan worked.”

Ashton shrugged his shoulders and grabbed your plates to put it into the sink. He was, after all, the neatest out of the boys. He hated when dirty towels were on the floor, good thing it was him and Calum sharing bathroom and not with Luke.

You watched him hover over the sink with a sponge, trying to think everything through. He was definitely leaving out details that seemed important to the story.

You didn’t want to force him to speak though. You never wanted to be on the edge.

When you tried to stand up from the chair a shot of pain was caused by your stomach.

You couldn’t help but groan a little bit, catching Ashton’s attention.

“Oh yes,” He dried his hands in a towel, “I promised Calum to take a look.”

You leaned back on the chair and lifted up in Luke’s shirt for Ashton to see. You didn’t know if he was an expert in wounds but it seemed okay when he removed the patch gently.

“Well he did a pretty great job that Kiwi boy.” He hummed in satisfaction and walked over to one of the cabinets. They had a place where they kept a first aid kit, he probably just needed a new patch.

As long as you would be wearing clothes you couldn’t just have the scar free in case of blood or secretion.

“When can we take the stitches out?” You leaned your head to the side and watched him clean the wound.

“I don’t think until a few weeks. It needs to heal probably. But I’m not a doctor. Ask Calum.” He couldn’t help but laugh a bit. Neither were Calum but he had interest and probably new.

You nodded your head and looked down at your phone. You couldn’t help but sigh heavily and Ashton noticed.

“What?” He nodded his head down at your phone, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just that…” You looked down at the phone again, hesitantly, “I just have a class here at 12. I just don’t want to go because…”

“James is there?” Ashton finished your sentence and you nodded your head in agreement.

You knew this wasn’t supposed to ruin your classes but you honestly felt so weak. There was no way you were ready or able to do an argument with him. You just wanted to be invisible.

“I have an idea.” He announced and you furrowed your eyebrows.

“Come with me.”

“Ashton I don’t think this is a good idea.”

You looked up at him with wide eyes, your teeth digging into your bottom lip.

He looked into the mirror of the window and wrapped his gray beanie over his curls so they were only sticking out at the top and by the ends.

He turned around to look at you with a smirk and furrowed eyebrows.

“What do you mean this isn’t a great idea?”

He was wearing a dark purple/blue and red flannel, a white tee under it and his black skinny jeans. You had never seen him wear something like this before but it wasn’t like he looked like someone who was suddenly in disguise.

You didn’t know if you were supposed to answer or not because he seemed to have settled his mind.

“You know he won’t touch you if you’re near me.” He placed his hands in his jean pockets and looked at you with a smile.

“Yes,” You nodded your head in agreement, “But you’re expelled. They will take you to the police station if they find out you’re in one of my classes.”

“They’ll need to catch me first.” Ashton winked and opened the door, “Ladies first.”

When you meant everyone you meant EVERYONE was staring at you. You weren’t sure if it was because people had the expression you had a new boy at college with you or if they did see it was Ashton. He wasn’t that hard to recognize.

You didn’t like the attention you were getting but Ashton seemed to enjoy it. He was smiling all over his face pretty amused.

You walked into the classroom with Ashton right behind you, wanting to get to the top of the stairs and take a seat on the back row. You never liked being up front.

As you placed your books on your seat you felt pokes on your shoulders. You couldn’t help but feel goosebumps up your spine.

“Well look who was brave enough to show up today?” James grinned by the sight of you, “Surprised you didn’t breath to death. There’s still blood on my knife.”

“That’s funny because there isn’t blood on my gun, yet.” Ashton showed up from your behind, placing an arm on your shoulders.

With instinct James took a step back, watching Ashton smile all over his face.

“And before you say anything,” Ashton nodded down at the lector, “Remember I never miss with a bullet.”

James swallowed deeply and hurried to take a seat in front of you, feeling his long legs disappear under his table.

The weather was warm and nice, a little bit cloudy. It was perfect for today’s occasion, people wouldn’t be sweating outside like inside and you didn’t have to worry about the lack of guests that would show up.

Today was, as mentioned, unlike any other.

Every year at Sydney Falls College, an annual football game would be held. The rival was always the same, you had the record of winning almost every year and today shouldn’t be any different.

There was no doubt everyone was excited. The football team had been playing until the early mornings were met by the sun rising. They had been out of their dorms and arrived back just in time to take a shower and leave for early classes.

It had become some sort of ritual. Every year they were playing to win the massive golden trophy with the title, “College Of The Year.” It had been standing on your shelves with other trophies and they barely dared to take it out on this day every year.

You had only been a part of the school for a small three months. Being a Freshman in college definitely left you a bit confused and new, but when you thought about it you had caught up with the college history.

It was all about hating the other team as much as possible. When speaking about them it had to involve some sort of insult in your sentence, even the mascots for both teams hated each other.

It was only a rumor but one time you had heard the school had kidnapped the other mascot and locked it into the librarian’s room. She hadn’t taken notice of it before seeing a giant shark costume with a little human head in the middle of it.

You didn’t understand what the luck would be, a man dressed in a costume couldn't do that much? But it was important to the footballers and definitely also important to the school and headmaster Hughes.

The footballers were running back and forth and between cones with a ball each, wanting to warm up for the big show.

You had been standing on the sideline watching for a bit. Not that you wanted to but every time you were near James you couldn’t avoid watching where he was going.

He was almost like a shadow. Always there when you least expected it. It wasn’t often you saw him around campus but when you did, you couldn’t look anywhere else. It had become a habit you couldn’t get rid of.

It wasn’t that you weren’t occupied. In fact, you were a little bit behind but you had your reasons for it.

Starting out at college with the heavy weight of being Luke Hemmings’ little sister carried on your shoulders left a few disadvantages. It was hard trying to start new friendships when everyone was somehow avoiding and almost afraid of you.

Not that they were afraid of who you were as a person. Everyone knew you were fragile and could barely kill a bug. All they feared was to somehow hurt you because they knew how it would turn out.

Luke’s reputation was quite spoken between students. It was a hard start but you were also aware of it. You could have started at any other college but you decided to take this one.

Maybe it had a bit to do with the fact that everyone knew Luke. It meant that you didn’t have to explain how complicated and messed up your life was because he had been there to show everything that was about it.

Living alone with Luke also meant that it wasn’t that many options you had when it came to college. It was one of the cheapest around and you concluded by the huge amount of slackers it would be easy to get some good grades here and there.

You could kind of say you were the complete opposite of Luke. While he was shady and dark you were caring and rightful. He was the loud one at parties while you mostly avoided it, being the quieter one.

He had been taking care of you for as long as you knew. It wasn’t that many years ago your parents had left but even before that he had been the most protective one out of them all.

Nobody should ever mess with him or his little sister.

Safe to say when you showed up at your dorm for the first time you scared the hell out of your new dorm mate.

Not that you looked any scary, you had even decided to do something out of your attire just to give the best impression possible. It was with a huge smile and nicely blushed cheeks you walked into the room but it had changed quickly.

The frightened look on her face was priceless but also a very bad start for a new beginning.

She had a welcoming smile but it also faded away once she recognized you. You barely understood how she had been able to but you could barely keep a proper secret in this.

It was with a shaky voice she could barely say, “You’re Y/N Hemmings.”

From that, you knew what the clock had timed. All those thoughts running in her mind at once per milliseconds would be completely wrong. It would all be a picture made out of who you appeared to be, not how your personality was.

Her name was Alba, Albs for short. She seemed pretty geeky the second you came inside, her cheeks were covered with cute freckles and her hair was dark and short to her shoulders.

The way she was clutching onto her books and looked at you spoiled many things. She was a frightened person already, probably a bit misplaced in society and also seemed to be more afraid to speak to people than you were.

She was a perfect character, the way she dressed and the attitude she had. She could have been the typical victim in high school and too afraid to state her opinions unless it would be at a class where she knew she would be smarter than anyone else.

Lots of her stuff was already filling the room, she did look quite like a mess. She had her glasses resting in her hair and with so many books in her tiny body you were sure she would sooner than later drop them.

It was hard to break through to her. She seemed to be a very distant person at times but when getting to know her she was hilarious as hell.

Sure she was still a bit frightened when speaking to you but as days went by she seemed to loosen up. Telling more about herself and her family, it was quick that your friendship grew.

She knew what your background was and the intentions Luke and his friends had behind their actions. Not that she understood or respected it, but she was aware without having to walk around with a question mark printed in her forehead.

While she studied biology, which wasn’t that big of a surprise, she invested most of her time in her books. That was where you always found her, sitting with her knees to her chest and her back pressed against her pillows.

You, on the other hand, had a focus on law and enforcement which was pretty ironic considering the industry your brother was in.

It didn’t take long before you had settled with being used to each other. You slept around the same time, both of you were quiet people so it wasn’t like you hated each other by sharing a dorm.

But on the other hand, you were a bit more reckless compared to Alba.

When claiming that you wanted to be a part of the cheerleading squad she had laughed at first. In fact, she was laughing for five minutes straight before realizing that you were dead serious with your idea.

Why join the cheerleading squad she questioned. It was truly a really great question, you had never been the one to be in some sort of group when it came to high school but in college, you wanted the start of something different.

You were nervous as hell and it wasn’t like you had been in a group of many girls before. They almost seemed scarier than when Luke and his friends hung around selling drugs by the back of your old apartment.

It wasn’t that you were that athletic but it was a challenge and you liked it.

It would be a good way to get to know others, you had needed that when you were in high school but too afraid to say anything. You wanted a good new start and it was fun to look at the football players run around on the field sweaty.

But what you hadn’t given a thought was the fact that James had decided to be on the football team.

No doubt it was a coincidence, you knew he was a part of the football team in high school and it wasn’t much a surprise that he continued in college. It was his way of showing that he deep inside wasn’t just a horrible person towards girls.

When seeing him for the first time your heart skipped a beat and not in a good way. He was having that cocky smile on his face but made sure not to do anything because just like you, he wanted a clean start at college.

Where nobody had to fear him and see him as the villain. Here, he had gotten a few more friends and the girls were almost shouting over him. It didn’t make any sense to you because he still managed to get humiliated when Luke was around.

You could feel the cold sweat drip down from your back when you turned around and headed back to the other cheerleaders standing in a pile of girls.

It almost looked like a giant piece of chess game. The uniforms were cute, yet simple. They weren’t as slutty as they could have been at other colleges and you were allowed to wear shorts under the skirts.

Colors were just as simple as the fabric. Black and white to show the national colors of the college and with a large S in the middle for Sydney. On the back, you had numbers just like the football team almost as if you could match a boy and a girl.

You were happy that the colors were out of the ordinary instead of looking like someone in a giant pile of candy floss or some typical colors like red or blue.

They suited you well and were perfect for the weather. The girls were currently on their way to make a pyramid but of course, they were missing the last one to complete it.

“The game starts in twenty minutes. I need you all to smile and be prepared.” Joanna, the captain of the cheerleading squad announced with a matching bell between her lips.

She could be a bitch sometimes but deep inside was a sweetheart. The cheerleading was had huge importance in her life. It had been passed by for generations and it was also the reason why she was doing everything with big passion.

“I’m here.” You announced like it wasn’t obvious and placed your foot on the waiting hands to be lifted up and do your usual pose.

From this view, you were able to see everything. Guests were slowly filling out the many black seats that crowded the whole football field. The guys in the booth above the board with points were preparing everything. Currently, it was spelling “Welcome.”

You practiced twice a week and it was nice to get away with everything. It was also a benefit because your fitness became better and you could do stuff with your body you had never believed would be possible.

The nerves were obvious on the way you were standing because you were shaking more than usual.

This was your first official show. You had been to previous games before but you had always been sitting in the audience. Not right next to the football field with a team to accompany you.

Some were also nervous which was fine but you knew that if Joanna saw weakness she would snap you out of it. It was the best power she had in her mind.

“Okay, one last try of the pyramid before you get the last break. We’re talking five minutes, drink some water and go for a pee if needed.” She yelled at the top of her lungs to drown the loud sounds of the footballers from her behind.

They were chanting their usual song, the one that seemed to motive everyone and scream the lyrics as loud as possible.

You jumped down from the pyramid and stretched your arms to get away the feeling of heavyweight being pulled from your shoulders.

You knew it had to be quick with the lack of time you had but because of the sun, you needed some water from your locker in the changing rooms.

It wasn’t many that took the chance, being late with Joanna was like being late for classes with Mr. Talinn in law. Not something to mess with in college.

You and three others entered the changing rooms after taking the short run from the football field. Luckily enough a tunnel led to the rooms and with one quick check in your locker, you would be out in no time.

The music coming from above also spoiled that it was almost time, people were starting to cheer already and there was less than minutes left.

Alba had also sent you a text saying she was there. Usually she wouldn’t do such things like this because of her anxiety but she wanted to be a part of the “Squad” and most probably also see you make a huge fool of yourself.

Opening your locker to throw in your jacket and took out your water bottle you almost counted all the second you used.

You were almost more afraid of Joanna than someone else. But maybe that was a little too quickly said for sure.

“Care to share?”

You barely got the chance to swallow the water and the bottle was quickly dropped to the ground.

“Because with everything I’ve been put through that’s the least you can owe me,” James spoke through gritted teeth. He had revenge in his eyes and he was pressing you harshly against the lockers.

“Ver-,” You didn’t get the chance to yell for Veronica standing on the other side of the lockers reversed of yours to ask for help before he placed his large hand in front of your mouth.

You were a wiggling mess trying to grab as much attention possible but it was pointless. Veronica and whoever was around had left less than a minute after and it gave James the chance to do what he pleased without witnesses.

“Look at the little stunt your puppets pulled at me? Who do you think’s gonna pay for that?” He removed his hand to let you speak and showed you the burns and redness he had.

They hadn’t been that obvious on distance but you could tell how worse they had gotten by the days passing by. He had marks around his neck and they had turned into a deep shade of purple.

“Because of them I almost didn’t make it to the game. Hell, they nearly killed me! Coach Zurich was definitely worried considering my injuries. You know I could have easily spoiled anything but what could they do about it? So much for expelling them!”

You widened your eyes trying to get away but it was nearly impossible. He had you trapped in a way against the black lockers you couldn’t get away without injuring yourself badly.

“What do you expect when you started it?” You managed to say and felt his grip around you became stronger by your question.

“I started this? You know it goes way back. You know I just follow the steps of my brother.” He smiled in delight and managed to remove a strand of hair that had fallen in front of your eyes.

“The steps of your brother are to torment mine. I don’t have anything to do with this.” You flicked your head to get his hand away from your face. The hair was the least annoying thing right now.

“That’s where you misunderstand it, Y/N.” He almost spoke softly but it was only to annoy you even more.

“We’re the new generation and we need to pass it on. Your brother and mine hate each other so I thought why not do the same with you? You shouldn’t complain you know, using the excuse that you’re a girl doesn’t work in this society we currently live in.”

He was enjoying this so much. All the power he had over you, you figured out he had been waiting on the football field until you would leave. It was why he had been staring at you with the same common smirk.

“And you know what the best part about this is?” He asked and leaned his mouth to your ear, “Both you and Luke gets the chance to suffer.”

“Suffer from what? My knuckles hurting after beating you senseless?”

It was almost too good to be true when you heard the sound of Luke. He was standing by the end of the lockers with a smirk better than James’ could ever wear and had the boys behind his back.

“I’ll survive.” He spoke and in a split second, James let you go.

You knew it wasn’t amusing at all but seeing the other boys were a bit hilarious. They had loaded their hands from the small shop upstairs, Michael was having a large bag of popcorn in his arms and ate them almost intensely.

“Now leave her before I tore out your spleen with my hands.” Luke made a small nod with his head just to prove his seriousness.

“Do it!” Michael chanted from his behind, he and Calum watching like it was some sort of great movie with their popcorn and candy.

Luke didn’t say anything but had his arms crossed and waited impatiently. He didn’t flick a muscle and kept the intense eye contact with James as he walked past the boys to get to the exit of the changing rooms.

You were still pressed against the lockers but it was with a huge sigh of relief.

“After what we did it was simple logic he would go straight for your throat once he had the opportunity,” Luke explained when you shared eye contact and you hurried towards him to be wrapped up for a hug.

“Couldn’t really let that happen, huh?” He said more quietly and smiled when you leaned your chin on the top of his shoulders.

Ashton was standing behind with a satisfied smile on his face. He wasn’t saying anything and neither had he done something but the fact that he wanted to show up made you realize how much you appreciated it.

“Thank you.” It wasn’t said out loud but you knew he would understand from your silent language, he made a wink with his eye and turned around.

“Are you staying to watch the game?” You asked and closed your locker.

“It seems like it.” Luke nodded his head towards the popcorn and candy, Michael and Calum walking in front while you stood with him and Ash.

It wasn’t often that he was a part of these things but since he was here he wanted to see what was going on. He knew they were expelled but in the massive pile of people, they most probably wouldn’t get recognized.

“Nice outfit,” Ashton commented once Luke hurried up to grab a few popcorns once you came outside. You suspected it more to be him hiding behind the popcorn to make sure nobody would recognize him.

Rolling your eyes by his words you lifted up one of your pong pongs to shake them in his face, just to be a tease like him.

“You know we have this party later.” He announced causally, you knew they had been talking about it before but this time he made it official.

“A party? Sounds like a mess already.” You smiled and squeezed your eyes by the bright sun in your face once you were out of the changing rooms and back on the field.

You could almost pre-call all the early parties they had been hosting. It always ended up in a huge mess and it was the reason why you never had parties at yours and Luke’s old apartment. But things changed since they had moved together.

“If you want you could join you know... With Luke’s permission of course.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” You scratched your arm almost nervously and looked up at him apologizing.

You weren’t sure why he was asking but it definitely sounded like a bad idea. You knew it would end up in you just talking in the corner with someone throughout the hall night and it had been a long weak.

You just needed some sort of peace.

“I’ve got some studying to do. I’m sure you still know how the feeling of that is.” You were a little bit cocky but it was okay. He could handle it, almost being the worst one of the two of you.

“Indeed.” He agreed and ran a hand through his curls, stopping by the entrance to the stairs leading up to the many chairs.

“We’ll be keeping an eye on you,” Luke said as he looked over his shoulder and made a motion with his fingers.